South African Health Experts Push for HPV Vaccination to Include Boys

South African healthcare experts are renewing calls for the country's human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme to include boys, warning that preventing HPV-related cancers should not be viewed exclusively as a women's health priority. Although the national programme has made significant progress in protecting schoolgirls against HPV infections associated with cervical cancer, boys remain outside routine publicly funded vaccination. Medical researchers emphasize that persistent HPV infections can also cause cancers of the throat, anus and penis, often developing years after initial exposure. Advocates argue that extending vaccination to boys could provide direct protection while helping reduce the circulation of high-risk HPV strains across the wider population. South Africa's 2026–2030 cervical cancer elimination framework acknowledges the possibility of including boys when feasible, while the World Health Organization's prequalification of an additional gender-neutral HPV vaccine has created further opportunities for policy discussions. Experts stress that any expansion must be carefully planned without weakening vaccination coverage among girls or essential cervical cancer screening programmes