After a grueling 50 days at sea, the NOMAN Great Pacific Rowers arrived in Hawaii on 29 July, breaking the world record as the youngest crew to ever cross the Pacific Ocean!

HPV Action is incredibly proud of these 24-year-old men who tested their courage, strength and mental stamina to raise awareness about the lives affected by HPV and our opportunity that now exists to end this carcinogen through vaccinatig. 

Following their departure from California, bad weather and unfavorable winds initially pushed the NOMEN miles off course. At night, the men were unable to see the 20 foot waves they were navigating and howling gales prevented conversation. Picking up the trade winds just before the halfway point, their pace across the
Pacific eventually increased, helping secure their position in the race!. Along the way, they were hit, literally, by unwanted stowaways in the form of flying fish who took a bath in the watermaker.

NOMAN Nick Kempster said, “This challenge has been immense and at times it felt like we might not be able to complete it, but everyone’s support and messages (ranging from the outright funny to those who merely thought they were funny) as well as our ultimate aim of raising awareness of HPV, have kept us going even when we didn’t think we could give anymore. Somehow we always found the strength to keep rowing."

In what has been a big week for HPV awareness, our campaign to provide equal access to HPV protection for both boys and girls is gaining momentum. Leading doctors in the United Kingdom published an editorial and personal view yesterday in The BMJ supporting HPV protection for boys through vaccination. The BMJ articles were also reported on in the Guardian.

  

The BMJ, one of the world's leading medical journals, has today published an article by Dr Gillian Prue which makes the case for vaccinating boys.

"Protecting boys as well as girls by vaccinating against human papillomavirus may cut the incidence of genital warts and several cancers among both sexes," says Dr Prue. "HPV related disease in men causes a considerable burden; therefore, vaccinating boys is likely to produce more health and economic benefits than those from a girls-only programme.

"The current girls-only vaccination programme leaves MSM [men who have sex with men] at particular risk of infection because they do not benefit from any herd protection ... As for men who have sex with women, the extent to which they benefit from a girls-only vaccination programme even with a high uptake may also be limited. For example, in Denmark HPV vaccination has significantly reduced the incidence of genital warts among women but not among men.

"The suffering caused by HPV related diseases is self evident. The economic costs are also considerable: a study of treating nine major HPV related diseases in Italy produced an estimate of almost €530m (£420m; $714m) a year. And the cost of treating genital warts was almost £17m in England in 2008."

Dr Prue concludes: "Ultimately, any decision about whether to vaccinate boys should not be based solely on cost effectiveness. Public health, equity, and the human costs of HPV related disease for both sexes must be the main considerations."

Even more significantly, the BMJ has also published an editorial which supports Dr Prue's argument.

The editorial says: "It is easy to see why the vaccination programme was initially targeted at young women, who will benefit from a substantial reduction in cervical cancer and similar reductions in all forms of cervical dyskaryosis. This should lead to more a streamlined cervical screening programme and much less colposcopy and invasive treatment. However, the evidence is now conclusive that HPV also causes oropharyngeal cancers, with most cases caused by HPV-16 and HPV-18, and this has the fastest rising incidence of any cancer (15% a year).

"An estimated 90% of cases of anal cancer in the UK are also linked to HPV infection. According to new figures published by Cancer Research UK, anal cancer rates in the UK have increased by nearly 300% in the past 40 years ... Roughly six people now die every week from the disease in the UK. In gay men who are infected with HIV, the incidence of anal cancer is even more alarming; rates of 107/100 000 have been reported in the US.

"The only sensible answer to these dilemmas is a gender neutral vaccination strategy in schools that gives two doses of the vaccine to all 12-13 year old boys and girls. Anything else is discriminatory, inequitable, less effective, and difficult to explain. Can the UK afford to do it? If the price is right, we can’t afford not to."