December 05, 2013 - 8:56 AM
EDMONTON - Alberta will start including boys in a free school vaccination program that protects girls from a virus that causes cervical and other types of deadly cancers.
The province says this fall about 47,500 boys in grades 5 and 9 will receive the HPV vaccine.
The vaccination was first offered to Grade 5 girls in the province in 2008 and since then, the province estimates about 61 per cent of girls between the ages of nine and 13 have received the shots.
The vaccine protects against human papillomaviruses, which causes cervical cancer, head and neck cancers, anal and penile cancers and genital warts.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada has been urging provincial health ministers to include boys in their HPV vaccine programs.
Prince Edward Island was the first province to bring in an HPV vaccine program for boys.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013