Municipally sponsored human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of boys in Slovenia: the first 4 years

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination was included in the national vaccination program in Slovenia in the 2009/2010 school year. It is recommended for girls attending the sixth grade of primary school only and is fully state funded. Based on the initiative of school medicine specialists, Idrija and Cerkno were the first two municipalities to offer municipally sponsored HPV vaccination to boys in the 2014/2015 school year, showing promising results. Our aim was to evaluate HPV vaccination coverage among boys attending the sixth grade who received the municipally sponsored HPV vaccine. Data were collected from corresponding physicians from different municipalities. Boys who received less than two doses of HPV vaccine or were HPV vaccinated against payment were excluded from this analysis. The number of municipalities that offer sponsored HPV vaccination of boys increased from two in 2014/2015 to 10 in the 2017/2018 school year. Although the proportion of vaccinated boys was initially relatively low, most municipalities attained at least 50% vaccination coverage rates, which is similar to the current HPV vaccination coverage of girls in Slovenia. Our data show that the outstanding local initiative by several pediatricians and school medicine specialists can result in HPV vaccine coverage rates of boys that are comparable to or even higher than those in the national vaccination program for girls. Because acceptance of HPV vaccination among boys in Slovenia is adequate, we believe that the inclusion of boys in the national vaccination program, predicted to occur in the 2020/2021 school year, will yield significant results.