Our ref: DE00000420285
2 July 2009
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email of 9 June to the Department of Health requesting, under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, details about the process and data that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) will use in its work on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and consideration of extending this to male patients. Your request has been passed to me for reply.
The JCVI published a statement on HPV (July 2008) which says, ‘JCVI did not recommend vaccinating boys, as it was not cost-effective. Since vaccine efficacy is high, if there were a high coverage in girls then vaccinating boys would not provide any additional benefit since vaccination causes a decrease in the prevalence of disease, generated by herd immunity. Moreover, if there is high coverage in women, the vaccination of boys does not add any additional benefit to the prevention of cervical cancer.’
The Department does not hold unpublished documents relevant to your request.
It is also relevant to add that the JCVI’s published statement on HPV describes aspects of modelling work, namely natural history of HPV disease, sexual transmission, and economic models. HPV vaccination is best given before the onset of sexual activity, which would be true for boys as well as girls.
The JCVI meeting of 17 June considered the openness of its processes. Details of that discussion will be included in the draft minutes that will be published before the end of July at:www.dh.gov.uk/ab/jcvi. In future, more information will be published alongside each set of JCVI minutes. We therefore expect information about HPV to be published alongside JCVI minutes for October 2009.
If you have any queries about this response, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
I hope this reply is helpful. If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to:
Head of the Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health
Room 317
79
SW1A 2NS
Email: freedomofinformation@dh.gsi.gov.uk
If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Department. The ICO can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely,
Aimee Gasston
FOI Officer
Department of Health
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