‘Jabs for the Boys’ explains how HPV (human papillomavirus) affects boys and men. It offers advice and guidance to the parents of boys, boys themselves and adult men about the pros and cons of HPV vaccination to help make the decision about whether to have the vaccination and where to get it.

All the information in this website is based on the best-possible evidence and has been checked by medical and other experts. It has been compiled in line with NHS England Information Standard guidance.

Jabs for the Boys was provided by HPV Action (HPVA), a partnership of about 50 patient and professional organisations that are working to reduce the health burden of HPV, until they dissolved in 2021. This site is now owned and maintained by the Oral Health Foundation

The development of this website was supported by an educational grant from MSD. In 2019, HPV Action received a Mouth Cancer Foundation charity project award for further work on the site. These funds were paid to the Oral Health Foundation, one of HPVA’s members, which is managing the project.

The content of this site has been reviewed by an expert advisory group comprising:

• Nick Baker, Outreach and Communications Manager, GMFA: The gay men’s health charity
• Dr Nigel Carter, Chief Executive, Oral Health Foundation.
• Dr Gillian Prue, Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Institute for Health Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast.
• Dr Sue Sherman, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, Keele University.
• Professor Margaret Stanley, Emeritus Professor of Epithelial Biology, Cambridge University.

We are very grateful to all of the above and also to Brook for their comments on the section of the site aimed at boys.

The Oral Health Foundation is an independent charity dedicated to improving oral health and wellbeing around the world. For more than 50 years we have continued to provide expert, independent and impartial advice on all aspects of oral health directly to those who need it most.

We work closely with governments, dental and health professionals, manufacturers, the dental trade, national and local agencies and the public, to achieve our mission of addressing the inequalities which exist in oral health, changing people’s lives for the better.

HPVA was set up in 2013 and its main goal has been to achieve the extension of the HPV vaccination programme to over boys as well as girls.

HPV is a very common virus that causes several serious diseases in men and women. It is believed to be responsible for about 5% of all cases of cancer in both sexes.

In the UK, all girls aged 12/13 (11/12 in Scotland) are offered a free vaccination by the NHS to protect them against HPV. Thanks to the advocacy work on HPVA, this option is now available to boys of the same age.

You can find out more about HPVA and its members here.

HPV Action dissolved in 2021 due to the success of the vaccination catch-up programme. The European equivalent of HPVA is the HPV Action Network and you can find out more about them here.

Please support HPVA’s work to protect men and boys against HPV and the diseases it causes. Donations are very welcome and can be made online here.