HPV vaccine: Should boys get them as well?

A proposal for New Zealand boys to receive a free human papillomavirus vaccine as well as girls has been met with support from Aucklanders.

Pharmac, an agency that provides funded access to pharmaceuticals for New Zealanders, has requested the inclusion of the HPV vaccine Gardasil on the National Immunisation Schedule.

Gardasil was added to the National Immunisation Schedule in 2008 for girls to help prevent cervical cancer and sexually transmitted viruses.

Girls in Year 8 are currently given three doses of the vaccine for free. However, boys have to pay up to $450 to get the same amount of doses.

HPV virus affects boys and girls but in recent studies there has been an increase of throat cancers that are linked to the virus and are found more commonly in males.

Pharmac are proposing that boys will be able to receive Gardasil next year depending on funding.

Te Waha Nui talked to Auckland parents and members of the public about whether boys should receive the vaccination for free and found most people to be in favour of the addition.

Watch what Auckland parents and members of the public have to say about boys receiving the HPV vaccine. Video: Schariona Parker-Potoi