In Australia, over nine million doses of Gardasil have been administered to boys and girls for over a decade.
HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted infection which can be transmitted via skin-to-skin contact.
It can also be transmitted through anal, oral, or vaginal sex. Strains of the infection can cause anal cancer, penile cancer, cervical cancer and oropharyngeal cancer (cancer of the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils). HPV can also cause genital warts in men and women. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide, with three in four people aged between 15 and 24 carrying the virus. The virus contains 100 strains, of which the vast majority present no noticeable symptoms and cause no long-term health issues. Strains 6, 11, 16, and 18 are responsible for 70 per cent of the previously mentioned cancers and genital warts.
Overall, HPV is responsible for 5.2 per cent of cancer worldwide – 90 per cent of anal cancers, 70 per cent of cervical cancers, 65 per cent of vaginal cancers, 60 per cent of oropharyngeal cancers, 50 per cent of vulvar cancers and 35 per cent of penile cancers. Although HPV is perhaps most notorious for its links to cervical cancer in young women; men who have sex with men (MSM) are also at risk of anal, oropharyngeal, and penile cancers resulting from the virus. MSM do not benefit from the ‘herd immunity’ conferred through vaccinating adolescent girls. MSM – in particular
HIV-infected MSM – have a higher incidence of sexually transmitted infections, including HPV, compared to the general population.
HPV associated cancers are more prevalent in MSM compared to the general population – for example, rates of anal cancer are 15 times higher in MSM compared to heterosexual men. According to the American Center for Disease Control, men overall are also statistically at a higher risk of contracting genital warts than women.
A widely available HPV vaccine protects against these dangerous strains of the virus. The vaccine, currently offered by the HSE for MSM and young women, is called Gardasil. Gardasil has been proven to protect completely against strains 6, 11, 16, and 18 of the human papillomavirus. For the past four months, it has been offered in public STI clinics across Ireland. In order to complete the vaccine course you must undertake three doses of Gardasil over a six-month period. In Dublin, one clinic providing the HPV vaccine to MSM is the Gay Men’s Health Service (GMHS) on Baggot Street.