HPV vaccination extended to gays

[pellaz]

not just for the ladies;
HPV is best known for causing most cases of cervical cancer. In gay men could cause anal cancer, which is hard to treat.

linky to an article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/j...sfeed=true

[OrphanPip]

You'd have to get it young, preferably before the first sexual contact to effectively protect the population from the cancer causing strains though.

When the Gardasil vaccine was new, like 4 years ago, I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the potential of extending the vaccine to gay men, but I still don't see how healthcare professionals will be able to effectively target gay youth when the vaccine is likely to still be effective. The under 26 guideline is based loosely on the fact that most heterosexual girls will not have many sexual partners prior to that, and I'd be cautious about extending that prediction to gay men.

Anyway, it can't hurt, or likely cost very much at all, to make the vaccine available to young gay men, and in particular to those who are HIV+, on demand in clinics serving the LGBT community.