Canadian parents support vaccinating boys in publicly funded programs
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KIRKLAND, QC, April 18, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, Prince Edward Island became the first province in Canada to extend its publicly funded school-based HPV vaccination program to boys. The program will use GARDASIL® [Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Recombinant Vaccine], the only HPV vaccine indicated and recommended for boys and men.
In 2007, The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommended the quadrivalent HPV vaccine to protect Canadian girls and women aged 9 to 26 against a broad spectrum of HPV-related diseases. In 2012, NACI updated and strengthened its statement related to the use of HPV vaccines and recommended the use of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine in males between 9 to 26 years of age.1
"PEI was one of the first provinces to follow NACI's recommendations by introducing school-based HPV vaccination programs to girls in 2007. PEI's decision to include boys is an important milestone in protecting both males and females against the diseases that can result from HPV infection such as genital warts and anal-genital cancers," said Dr. Mauricio Ede, Medical Director, Medical Affairs at Merck Canada. "Both males and females contribute to the spread of HPV and both develop diseases as a result of HPV infection."
More recently, The Canadian Medical Association adopted a resolution that calls for public funding to vaccinate both girls and boys for human papillomavirus.2
A national survey conducted in March 2011 by Ipsos Reid3, commissioned by Merck, showed that:
- 85% of parents of males would allow their son to get vaccinated against HPV if it was offered through a publicly-funded program at his school
- 88% of parents support the assertion that boys should be vaccinated against HPV in the same program as girls
- 91% of parents agree that vaccinating both boys and girls against HPV would provide greater protection than vaccinating girls alone
Australia, a country to which Canada is often compared, extended its national school-based HPV vaccination program to boys aged 12-13, earlier this year. It includes a catch-up program for 14 to 15 year-olds until the end of the 2014 school year.4
About Merck
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer and animal products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information about our operations in Canada, visit www.merck.ca.
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The news release is available at www.cnw.ca.
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1 Public Health Agency of Canada Web site. Accessed at: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/12vol38/acs-dcc-1/index-eng.php
2 The Canadian Medical Association Web site. Accessed at: http://www.cma.ca/multimedia/CMA/Content_Images/Inside_cma/Annual_Meeting/2012/resolutions/2012GC-Resolutions_en.pdf. See pg 4 resolution 47.
3 Ipsos Reid factum issued on January 19, 2012. Accessed at: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/907763/nine-in-ten-88-canadian-parents-support-vaccinating-boys-against-hpv-through-public-program-at-school
4 Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing Web site. Available at: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/immunise-hpv
SOURCE: Merck Canada Inc.
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