Health officials in Muskoka think boys should get the same protection as girls.
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is supporting a call to offer the HPV vaccine to high school boys. In Ontario, the vaccine is only offered to boys and girls in elementary school and high school girls. The sexually-transmitted virus is known to be a cause of cervical cancer in women, but it can also cause several types of cancer for men as well. The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit recently sent a letter to the Minister of Health asking for the expansion of the vaccine coverage.
Health unit officials in Muskoka are sending a similar letter. According to officials, over 65 per cent of teenage girls in Simcoe-Muskoka have been vaccinated.