Wanderlust

Category: HEALTH

  • Yemen predicament: EIGHTY FIVE,000 kids ‘dead from malnutrition’

    Nusair, 13 months old, in his house in Hodeidah, Yemen, with his mother Suad Symbol copyright Mohammed Awadh/Store The Children Image caption Children under the age of 5 are at better chance of death from serious malnutrition

    An envisioned EIGHTY FIVE,000 children below the age of five may have died from acute malnutrition in three years of conflict in Yemen, a leading charity says.

    The number is equivalent to all of the below-five inhabitants in the UNITED KINGDOM’s 2d largest city of Birmingham, Save The Kids provides.

    The UN warned last month that up to 14m Yemenis are on the verge of collapse of famine.

    It is attempting to revive talks to end a 3-yr conflict which has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

    Yemen has been devastated by way of the battle. Combating escalated in 2015 while a Saudi-led coalition introduced an air marketing campaign in opposition to the Houthi revolt movement which had pressured President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee in a foreign country.

    One mom’s ordeal

    Nusair, a THIRTEEN-month-antique boy, is among the youngsters suffering from serious acute malnutrition who’s being intently monitored via Save The Kids.

    He was treated in August however by means of October his well being had deteriorated once more.

    Symbol copyright Mohammed Awadh/Retailer The Children Symbol caption THIRTEEN-month-vintage Nusair

    Via that time he and his mother were compelled to relocate to a faraway space as a result of increased preventing near their home and had been not able to make the lengthy commute to hospital.

    “i will not visit sleep, it is torturing, and that i am worried approximately my youngsters. i couldn’t live if any hurt came to them,” his mother, Suad, advised the charity.

    Yemen’s conflict in FOUR HUNDRED words Why struggle for Yemen’s Hudaydah issues

    What happens to the malnourished children?

    The charity says that in response to ancient research, if acute malnutrition is left untreated, round 20-30% of kids will die per annum.

    “for each child killed via bombs and bullets, dozens are starving to death and it is totally preventable,” its Yemen director, Tamer Kirolos, says.

    “Children who die in this approach undergo immensely as their important organ functions decelerate and at last prevent. Their immune methods are so vulnerable they’re extra liable to infections with some too frail to even cry.

    “Parents are having to witness their kids losing away, unable to do anything else about it.”

    He further warned that an predicted ONE HUNDRED FIFTY,000 kids’s lives had been endangered in Hudaydah with “a dramatic building up” in air moves over the town in recent weeks.

    Isn’t Yemen already suffering from famine?

    Not but – but it is getting shut.

    Just final month, the UN warned that half the inhabitants of the battle-torn u . s . a . was going through “pre-famine stipulations”.

    Media playback is unsupported to your tool

    Media captionThe UN says Yemen is at the verge of collapse of the world’s worst famine in ONE HUNDRED years if the battle continues

    a country has to meet the next criteria to be declared in famine:

    at least one in five families faces an excessive lack of meals more than 30% of youngsters beneath five are suffering from acute malnutrition at least people out of each 10,000 are demise each day

    The UN stated – in keeping with exams from a 12 months in the past – the primary thresholds had both been surpassed or was dangerously close in 107 of Yemen’s 333 districts. but the 3rd threshold about numbers of deaths was more difficult to confirm. The employer is these days repeating the checks.

    What’s the latest with the warfare?

    UN envoy Martin Griffiths arrived in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday for talks with the Houthi rebels in a bid to put the foundation for peace talks in Sweden.

    It comes after a lull in violence was once broken on Tuesday, with severe fighting erupting among the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels in Hudaydah.

    On Monday, the united kingdom presented a draft answer to the UN urging an immediate truce within the port town and giving either side of the struggle a two-week cut-off date to take away all barriers to humanitarian aid.

    Separately, Saudi Arabia and its ally, the UAE, have pledged $500m (£390m; €440m) in food assist, and say it’s intended to succeed in 10 to 12 million Yemenis.

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  • Mental health: One in four younger women suffering

    Teenager holding a mobile phone sitting on her bed Symbol copyright Getty Photographs

    Just About one in 4 younger women has a psychological sickness, with emotional problems reminiscent of melancholy and anxiousness essentially the most commonplace, figures for England show.

    The legit NHS record found younger ladies elderly 17 to 19 have been twice as likely as younger men to have issues, with 23.NINE% reporting a disorder.

    Problems are much less not unusual in more youthful age groups, but are rising, albeit slowly.

    In youngsters elderly five to 15, one in nine had a dysfunction, up from one in 10 while the assessment used to be performed THIRTEEN years ago.

    The findings are in keeping with a survey of greater than NINE,000 teenagers.

    Adolescence mental health document in charts Why assist ends at a milestone birthday

    It comes because the Kid’s Commissioner for England warned there was a “vast hole” in NHS mental health enhance.

    Anne Longfield’s document criticised sluggish development made in improving expert neighborhood services for kids.

    She mentioned waiting instances have been too long and he or she was serious about numbers being rejected by products and services in some areas.

    Nearly half those of their past due teens with psychological health problems had self-harmed or tried suicide. For more youthful teenagers it was a couple of quarter.

    ‘I’ve neglected so much of my life’

    The figures showed that greater than a third of teenagers stated neighborhood services and products have been turned away.

    This could be as a result of their needs weren’t critical sufficient to want lend a hand and could be dealt with via different products and services, such as at school or via charities and council social care teams.

    But Ms Longfield stated she was involved youngsters had been getting grew to become away because services and products simply did not have time to look them.

    Her file additionally raised concerns approximately ready instances. just below 1/2 people who received remedy after a referral in 2017-18 had waited longer than six weeks. the common ready time was once just about months.

    What needs to occur?

    The commissioner believes children’s services are beneath-funded. Round £700m is spent on child and adolescent psychological well being products and services (CAMHS) and eating problems give a boost to.

    By comparison, products and services for adults receive 15 times extra in spite of kids representing 20% of the population.

    The commissioner mentioned an extra £1.7bn would want to be invested to convey kids’s services and products in line.

    She said this would help pay for more early lend a hand by way of funding NHS counsellors in faculties for example.

    Emma Thomas, leader government of the Young Minds charity, stated there was a scarcity of improve for children.

    She stated the charity will get “calls each day” approximately children who’re waiting for assist or were denied lend a hand.

    “this can have devastating consequences – in some circumstances, children start to self-harm, become suicidal or drop out of college at the same time as looking ahead to the help they need.”

    She agreed early intervention and better investment have been crucial.

    what is the government doing?

    Each NHS England and the dep. of Health and Social Care have made improving children’s mental health care a priority.

    In reality, the commissioner’s file noted that investment was once increasing and there had been just right growth in phrases of tackling eating problems with new services and strict goals for get right of entry to.

    Last month, in his Budget, the chancellor introduced a minimum of £2bn of the additional £20bn earmarked for the NHS via 2023 might pass on mental well being.

    A new 4-week goal for get entry to to CAMHS could also be going to be piloted soon and NHS England has promised every other 70,000 kids will probably be able to get admission to make stronger within the coming years.

    National psychological health director Claire Murdoch said the scale of the problem known by NHS Virtual showed the importance of “ramping up” get right of entry to to products and services.

    She said the NHS lengthy-time period plan, due out soon, may set out more information about long run investment.

    “Everybody who works with kids and young people, whether in the public, personal or voluntary sector, has to play their phase if we’re to offer protection to adolescents’s psychological health.”

    Ministers have additionally being striking power on social media firms to do more about cyber-bullying and aggressive behaviour online.

    One option being thought to be is a brand new regulator for the internet.

    (more…)

  • Sugary complement mannose may just lend a hand battle most cancers

    Cranberries Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mannose is available as a supplement however may be found evidently in culmination reminiscent of cranberries

    A dietary complement is also capable of gradual the advance of some cancers and strengthen the results of remedy, a observe in mice suggests.

    Mice with pancreatic, lung or skin cancer got mannose, a sugar additionally found in cranberries and different culmination.

    It considerably slowed the expansion of their tumours, with no evident side-results, researchers found.

    However, patients are being told to not get started supplementing with mannose as a result of the danger of side-results.

    Scientists hope to test the supplement in people quickly.

    Mannose, which can be bought in health food stores and is usually used to treat urinary tract infections, is assumed to intrude with the ability of tumours to use glucose to develop.

    The hospitals that fail to regard patients on time Early risers have decrease breast most cancers possibility

    ‘Perfect steadiness’

    Scientists also looked at how mannose might have an effect on most cancers remedy by giving it to mice that were treated with two of essentially the most popular chemotherapy drugs, cisplatin and doxorubicin.

    They found it greater the results of chemotherapy, slowing the expansion of tumours and decreasing their dimension. It additionally increased the lifespan of some mice.

    In further checks, cells from other types of most cancers, including leukaemia, osteosarcoma (bone cancer), ovarian and bowel most cancers had been exposed to mannose in the laboratory.

    Some cells answered well, while others did not.

    How well the cells spoke back gave the impression to depend on the levels they’d of an enzyme that breaks down mannose.

    Lead author Prof Kevin Ryan, from the Most Cancers Research UNITED KINGDOM Beatson Institute, stated his team had found a dosage of mannose that “may block sufficient glucose to slow tumour expansion in mice but not so much that standard tissues have been affected”.

    Our Bodies require glucose for power however cancerous tumours also use it to gasoline their growth.

    “this is early research but it is was hoping that discovering this absolute best stability implies that, in the long term, mannose may well be given to cancer patients to enhance chemotherapy with out harmful their overall well being,” he mentioned.

    Supplement warning

    One benefit of mannose is that it’s cheaper than medicine produced by means of pharmaceutical companies.

    And Prof Ryan mentioned he was hoping tests in other folks could start soon.

    However, he and other mavens warn that the findings do not imply individuals with most cancers will have to start supplementing with mannose.

    Martin Ledwick, Cancer Analysis UNITED KINGDOM’s head nurse, stated: “Although these effects are very promising for the long run of a few most cancers remedies, this is very early analysis and has now not but been examined in humans.

    “Sufferers shouldn’t self-prescribe mannose, as there may be an actual possibility of terrible aspect-results that have not been tested for but.

    “it’s important to refer to with a physician prior to substantially converting your vitamin or taking new dietary supplements.”

    Prof Ryan stated his group might subsequent are searching for to investigate why mannose worked in some cancer cells and not others, in order that they could work out which sufferers might benefit essentially the most.

    The analysis is published in the journal Nature.

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  • The village that’s eradicated FGM

    Video THREE:18 The village that is eliminated FGM

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  • Veganism: Why is it on the up?

    Young woman sitting holding a bowl full of spinach, rocket and avocado. Image copyright Getty Images

    Across Britain, people are spending more money on vegan products, and plant-based diets are trending online.

    With major supermarkets catching on and stocking up on vegan-friendly food – BBC News asks what’s behind the rise?

    The number of vegans is on the up

    A vegan diet involves cutting out animal products like meat, fish, dairy and eggs.

    According to the latest research by the Vegan Society, conducted in 2016, there are estimated to be around 540,000 vegans in Great Britain.

    It’s estimated that this is up from 150,000 in 2006, and that there are twice as many women than men who are vegan.

    Interest in vegetarian and vegan products shows no sign of slowing down, as retail sales are expected to increase to £658m by 2021.

    Do influencers influence what we eat?

    Social media has had a big part to play in the rise of the plant-based lifestyle.

    Celebrities like Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Ellen DeGeneres are some of the well-known figures who don’t eat animal products, while #vegan has more than 61 million posts listed on Instagram.

    Image copyright Getty Images

    Veganism is a hot topic – the number of Google searches worldwide has also spiked in recent years.

    The search engine uses a number out of 100 to represent interest in a search term. In 2008, the word “veganism” had a popularity score of only 17 but it has increased to 88 only 10 years later.

    The top five most-searched questions on the topic in the UK ask what veganism is and what the arguments are for and against cutting out animal products.

    Giles Quick, director at market researcher Kantar Worldpanel, said: “The vegan market has changed fundamentally in the last six or seven years – it’s now for everyone.

    “Social media has brought it to the forefront of customer’s minds, and the mainstream. It’s not seen any more as a choice for life, but as a choice for one meal, one moment, for one or two days a week.”

    Flexitarianism, part-time vegetarianism or veganism, is becoming more and more popular. This January, more than 168,000 people pledged to go vegan for the first month of the year, under the Veganuary campaign.

    Why are more people going vegan?

    According to analysts, young women are driving the growth of the vegan movement.

    But, a range of reasons lie behind veganism’s rise.

    A total of 49% of those interested in cutting down on their meat consumption said they would do so for health reasons, according to a survey of more than 1,000 adults in Great Britain by Mintel.

    Weight management, animal welfare and environmental concerns were also big motivators.

    With interest increasing all the time in healthy eating, part-time veganism might well become a full-time fixture in many people’s lives.

  • Vegetarian meat substitutes ‘exceeding salt limits’

    Tofu burger Image copyright Getty Images

    More than a quarter of meat-free burgers, sausages and mince tested for a study exceed maximum recommended salt levels, a campaign group has warned.

    A total of 28% of the 157 meat substitute products studied by Action on Salt missed the voluntary salt targets set by Public Health England.

    The worst offenders were saltier than Atlantic seawater, the report found.

    Public Health England said it had told companies the importance of meeting its voluntary targets.

    But Action on Salt called on PHE to take “urgent action” to do more to lower salt in the products.

    Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Researchers said some of the foods were saltier, per 100g, than seawater in the Atlantic Ocean

    What are PHE’s salt targets?

    Plain meat alternatives (including plain mince, pieces and fillets): 0.63g of salt per 100g Meat-free products (all meat alternative products, including sausages, burgers, bites, pies and sliced “meats”): 1.25g of salt per 100g Meat-free bacon: 1.88g of salt per 100g

    How the products compare

    Tofurky’s Deli Slices Hickory Smoked: 3.5g of salt per 100g Tesco Meat Free Bacon Style Rashers: 3.2g of salt per 100g Tesco Meat Free Mince (least salty): 0.2g of salt per 100g Atlantic seawater: 2.5g of salt per 100g

    What are the recommended daily maximum salt consumption limits?

    Action on Salt chairman Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at London’s Queen Mary University, said: “Reducing salt is the most cost-effective measure to reduce the number of people dying or suffering from entirely unnecessary strokes and heart disease.”

    He added: “It is incomprehensible that Public Health England are not doing more to reduce the amount of salt in our food. We are again calling on PHE to take urgent action”.

    Prof Louis Levy, head of nutrition science at Public Health England, said salt consumption had fallen over the last decade “but there is still a long way to go, as some foods still contain too much salt”.

    He added: “Government has been clear with the food industry on the importance of meeting the 2017 salt targets.

    “Since taking over salt reduction, PHE has been collecting data on industry’s progress and we’ll report later this year as planned.”

    Quorn, one of the leading producers of vegetarian meat, said it had varying levels of salt in its products.

    Its Meat-Free Best of British Sausages contain 1.9g of salt per 100g – more than the PHE recommendation. That means eating one sausage will give you 1.1g of salt. Adults would need to eat more than six of them in a day to bust their salt allowance (not counting any other salt in foods they also eat).

    A spokeswoman added: “While they are higher in salt, as clearly marked on the pack, they are still low in saturated fat.

    “We review all our product recipes on an ongoing basis to ensure we are achieving what our consumers want in terms of taste and health credentials.”

  • Why young people are now less likely to smoke

     Image copyright iStock

    All age groups in the UK are smoking less – but the largest decrease is among 18- to 24-year-olds, according to the Office of National Statistics. Why is that?

    Fewer start smoking

    The latest figures, for 2015, suggest one in every five (20.7%) 18- to 24-year-olds is a smoker.

    In 2010, this figure was one in every four (25.8%).

    Today, about 70% of 16- to 24-year-olds have never started smoking cigarettes in the first place, the data suggests – up from 46% in 1974, when records began.

    And even among the age group most likely to smoke, 24- to 35-year-olds, about 60% – up from 35% in 1974 – have never picked up the habit.

    Image copyright iStock

    More are quitting

    The new data suggests 23.3% of 16- to 24-year-olds quit smoking in 2015, compared with 21.4% in 2010 and 13.4% in 1974.

    Ash says this has been “achieved through a combination of effective legislation, policy and support for adults to quit over many decades – much of which has had a big impact on youth uptake as well as quitting”.

    Policy director Hazel Cheeseman says: “Creating an environment in which fewer young people try smoking and more smokers quit will protect the health of future generations and avoid hundreds and thousands of premature deaths.

    “However, the achievements made to date are at risk.

    “The government must urgently publish a new tobacco control plan for England and ensure this is properly funded.”

    Image copyright PA

    The rise of vaping

    In 2015, three out of every 100 16- to 24-year-olds used electronic cigarettes, up from one in every 100 in 2014, the new data suggests.

    And, in total, 2.3 million people in the UK are using them – half in order to stop smoking.

    But some are concerned vaping could prove a gateway to smoking for teenagers.

    And critics say the fruit flavours of some e-cigarettes could make them more appealing to children.

    In December 2016, the US Surgeon General said the use of e-cigarettes by children was “a major public health concern”.

    But Ash says the latest figures “confirm that most users are smokers or ex-smokers”.

    “The figures also highlight that most users are seeking to improve their health, with the most common reason for use being as an aid to quit smoking,” it says.

    “Where smokers make a complete switch, they can expect to significantly reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals which cause cancer and other smoking-related illnesses.”

    Paul Hunt, managing director of e-cigarette manufacturer V2Cigs.co.uk, said: “E-cigarettes are supporting thousands of people in quitting smoking every day.

    “Information from the NHS states that people who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking can expect similar or better results than when using other nicotine replacement therapies.”

    “Of those people who combined NHS stop smoking support with e-cigarettes, two out of three were successful in quitting.”

    “As they eliminate chemicals found in regular cigarettes, such as tar, and allow people control over the amount of nicotine they’re consuming, e-cigarettes are a great tool in overcoming smoking addiction.”

  • Rachel Day died of sepsis 10 days after diagnosis

    Image copyright Bernie Day Image caption Rachel enjoyed working at a leisure centre and had dreams of opening a dog creche

    It was a situation made all the more impossible by the fact my daughter had been so healthy.

    Rachel loved sport and fitness, and for a long time had worked as lifeguard and swimming teacher at Llanishen Leisure Centre, before becoming assistant manager.

    There, she mentored younger staff and made friends with her sunny personality and strong work ethic.

    She was beautiful, in the bloom of her life, excited about a business idea to change her career path and open a creche for dogs.

    But that weekend – the second May bank holiday in 2017 – she fell ill.

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    It came on so quickly.

    Just the day before, we had been out together, enjoying a boat trip around Cardiff Bay then going on to drink cocktails.

    She lived with a close friend and I know that on the Sunday, she had gone to bed earlier than usual, complaining she felt unwell.

    At 4am on the Monday morning, she had knocked on her flatmates’ door, asking her to take her to A&E.

    She was vomiting and complained of feeling breathless.

    She told her flatmate she was frightened she was going to die – a common symptom of sepsis as it takes over the body so quickly.

    Her flatmate did all she could – driving her straight to A&E at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales.

    Image copyright Bernie Day Image caption Rachel with her father, Steve Day, at a family wedding

    New guidelines for managing sepsis say it needs to be treated with intravenous antibiotics within the hour.

    But we were already way behind.

    It had consumed her, constricting her movements as it began ravaging her internal organs and tissue, leaving her in extraordinary pain.

    The following sequence will be etched forever on my mind.

    At first, despite the urgency of my 999 call, just one paramedic came to her flat.

    He sent for an ambulance and two more paramedics arrived.

    Rachel was still screaming in pain, and they couldn’t even find her blood pressure, it was so low.

    It was one hour and 20 minutes before she reached A&E – despite it being just a few miles away.

    As we drove there, I was screaming inside my head for them to hurry.

    Image copyright Bernie Day Image caption Rachel and her mother Bernie

    It was only as we neared hospital that the word sepsis was first mentioned. Sepsis, I thought. What was sepsis?

    But it was clear that the doctors and nurses on the Intensive Care Unit knew.

    As soon as Rachel arrived, she was attached up to one drip and another, pumped full of antibiotics and fluids.

    A consultant told Rachel she was going to be put under sedation to give her body a rest.

    She reassured her she wouldn’t die but, in reality, doctors probably knew she would be lucky if she lasted 24 hours.

    In fact, Rachel lasted 10 days in intensive care.

    She fought and fought.

    But it was now 12 hours after she had first attended A&E with symptoms and the sepsis was in full control.

    She had blood clots on her lungs, brain and kidneys. Her body was swollen, her beautiful face and nose disintegrating and turning black.

    After six days in an induced coma, she was slowly brought back round by doctors, so they could assess what damage had been done to her brain.

    Rachel couldn’t talk but she could communicate through blinking – one for yes, two for no.

    She recognised the voices of close friends, blinking when they sang her funny Dr Dre songs.

    Image copyright Bernie Day Image caption Rachel with her friend and flatmate Sohaila Ali, who initially took her to hospital

    I would sing to her in my terrible voice, mainly lyrics from the Carpenters’ hit Close to You, which I had sung to her since she was a baby.

    Needless to say, she blinked twice. Shut up, mum, she was saying. Stop singing.

    She still had her sense of humour and we thought that night that she might just make it.

    And on the following Sunday – day seven – we held out even more hope when she opened her eyes for her dad.

    But her body was too tired to do it more than once, and she was put back under sedation.

    It was the next day, on Monday, 5 June, that consultants broke the news to us that in order to save her life, they would need to amputate her limbs.

    They wanted to take both legs under the knee and her left arm.

    Although horrific, it was our view that she would be able to cope with this.

    Before surgery, the doctors let me slide onto her bed and give her a cwtch [hug].

    But when the surgeon came to talk to us afterwards, he told us the damage to her tissues had been so severe, they had had to amputate both of her arms, leaving her a quadruple amputee.

    To say we were distraught is not touching it. How would Rachel cope like that? What sort of life would she have?

    It was at this point I went to the chapel in the hospital.

    I was screaming at God, asking why this had happened to Rachel and not me.

    I walked to the window, shaking violently and wanting to throw myself out.

    Image copyright Bernie Day Image caption Bernie Day with photos of her daughter. She is now campaigning to raise awareness of sepsis

    But the chaplain must have heard me. She rushed in, wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and calmed me down.

    She told me I was a mum, and as a mum, I knew what I had to do.

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    But then there came the final blow, delivered by a consultant in tears.

    Rachel had multiple-organ failure. She wasn’t going to make it anyway.

    We invited all her friends to the hospital, let people say goodbye, put candles around her room, then switched off her life-support machine.

    This was Wednesday, 7 June 2017, and my beautiful girl was gone in minutes.

    Image copyright Bernie Day Image caption Rachel with some of her closest friends

    That was 16 months ago. More than 400 people came to her funeral.

    Obviously, we have questions about Rachel’s death. Could an earlier diagnosis have saved her?

    But for now, our family is focusing on campaigning to make people more aware of sepsis.

    The illness kills upwards of 44,000 people in the UK – more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined.

    The money we have raised has gone towards implementing a ‘Sepsis 6 Pathway’ at the University Hospital of Wales.

    This means anyone admitted with a fever or signs of infection will be checked against red-flag symptoms of sepsis.

    We are now hoping to train paramedics and GPs to spot early warning signs, as well as getting the pathway into more hospitals.

    Of course, we are also focusing on getting Rachel’s story out there to the wider public.

    I don’t want to let her down.

    If she died to save others, then I have to do what I can to get the message out there.

    What is sepsis?

    Sepsis is triggered by infections, but is actually a problem with our own immune system going into overdrive.

    It starts with an infection that can come from anywhere – even a contaminated cut or insect bite.

    Normally, your immune system kicks in to fight the infection and stop it spreading.

    But if the infection manages to spread quickly round the body, then the immune system will launch a massive immune response to fight it.

    This can also be a problem as the immune response can have catastrophic effects on the body, leading to septic shock, organ failure and even death.

    Symptoms include:

    slurred speech extreme shivering or muscle pain passing no urine in a day severe breathlessness “I feel like I might die” skin mottled or discoloured

    Symptoms in young children include:

    looking mottled, bluish or pale very lethargic or difficult to wake abnormally cold to the touch breathing very fast a rash that does not fade when pressed a seizure or convulsion

    Source: NHS Choices

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  • HPV jab will be given to boys, government says

    A HPV vaccine being administered to a patient via injection Image copyright Getty Images

    A jab that protects against a virus that causes cervical cancer will be given to boys aged 12 to 13 in England.

    The policy decision brings England into line with Scotland and Wales.

    HPV vaccine is already routinely offered to girls of the same age at secondary school and is free up until they turn 18.

    Experts and campaigners have been calling for equal access to the jab, which can also guard against oral, throat and anal cancers.

    Doctors paying for sons to have cancer jab Cancer patient wants HPV vaccine for boys What is HPV?

    HPV is the name given to a large group of viruses, which can be caught through any kind of sexual contact with another person who already has it.

    Doctors say most HPV infections go away by themselves, but sometimes infections can lead to a variety of serious problems.

    For boys, this includes cancer of the anus, penis, mouth and throat.

    The vaccine has been offered to girls since 2008 as part of the NHS childhood vaccination programme, with boys being said to benefit through herd protection.

    But there is still a risk of infection in those who go on to have sex with other men or with women who have not been vaccinated.

    Thousands of boys in England are expected to be vaccinated under the programme each year, which is likely to start from 2019-20.

    Girls aged 12 to 13 in Northern Ireland are also eligible for the vaccine, but no decision has been taken on whether to make it available to boys living there.

    Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisations at Public Health England, said: “This extended programme offers us the opportunity to make HPV related diseases a thing of the past and build on the success of the girls’ programme, which has already reduced the prevalence of HPV 16 and 18, the main cancer-causing types, by over 80%.

    “We can now be even more confident that we will reduce cervical and other cancers in both men and women in the future.”

    Shirley Cramer CBE, Chief Executive, Royal Society for Public Health, said: “It is imperative that the gender-neutral programme is implemented by September 2019 to ensure as many people as possible reap the benefits.”

  • Busting the myths around sex virus HPV

    Laura Flaherty Image copyright Laura Flaherty Image caption “I thought my partner was cheating when I was diagnosed with HPV”

    High levels of shame and ignorance are associated with HPV, the sexually-transmitted virus which affects 80% of people, a survey has discovered.

    The government is rolling out HPV testing as part of routine screenings for cervical cancer.

    Nearly half of the women surveyed believed their partner must have cheated if they had HPV, but the virus can remain dormant for years.

    Campaigners fear women may not attend screenings because of the stigma.

    The survey of 2,000 women was done by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust last month.

    Image copyright SIphotography Image caption HPV first testing is being introduced in Wales this week

    Robert Music, Chief Executive, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said: “Testing for HPV first is a far more effective way of identifying those most at risk of cervical cancer. This change to the programme does mean more women will be told they have HPV.

    “HPV can be confusing however, so we must normalise it to ensure people don’t feel ashamed or scared about being told they have the virus.”

    HPV jab will be given to boys, government says HPV – Would you know if you had the virus HPV vaccine cuts cancer-causing infection HPV jab ‘safe and effective’

    HPV infection is rapidly declining in girls aged between 12 and 18 as a result of the HPV vaccine introduced in 2008.

    Last year, the vaccine was extended to gay men aged 16 to 45, and in July the government announced that it will also be extended to boys, although no start date has yet been given.

    There are no plans to extend the HPV vaccine to other adults over the age of 18, as the likelihood of already having the infection are high, and therefore the vaccine would be ineffective.

    Dr Philippa Kaye, GP and author said: “GPs and health professionals will be having more conversations with patients about HPV as they come in to discuss their results. Understanding how it is transmitted and the relative risks will help reduce the stigma surrounding it.”