The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee will conclude its work this Parliament in March 2026 ahead of the next Scottish Parliament election. So the Committee has time to complete its work, it has agreed not to consider petitions submitted after 10 October.
The Committee will continue to meet but given the volume of petitions and agreed work programme it is unlikely that the Committee would be able to meaningfully progress work on petitions submitted after 10 October ahead of the election. Petitions lodged after this date will not fall when the Parliament is dissolved and will be for the successor committee to consider in the new session.
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Closed petition PE1939: Amend the date of birth to allow wider accessibility to the HPV vaccination programme for boys
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to demonstrate a commitment to health equality for young males born between 01/09/1997 and 01/09/2006 by allowing them to access the HPV vaccination via the NHS.
Previous action taken
I have written to my MSP.
I have also contacted NHS Child Health Service.
Background information
I'm concerned about this health inequality as all girls are vaccinated, also men who have sex with men (MSM) up to and including the age of 45 in Scotland.
Looking at the process in England the age was raised to any boy 12 or 13 in July 2018, as this would afford greater herd immunity which would, in turn protect older boys.
Young males living south of the border, in addition to females and MSM young people are afforded protection by way of the vaccine, yet the same level of opportunity is not available for young males in Scotland. This is unfair and doesn't demonstrate equity to this service in Scotland.
My family members missed being included in the school vaccination scheme as they were born prior to September 2006.
I have made enquiries with the Child Health Immunisation service and have been advised they will not be eligible for this vaccine due to their date of birth. They advised doing this privately. Looking at private care it would cost approximately £500 per male to vaccinate them. A prohibitive cost to most families.
Please support this petition.
This petition was considered by the Scottish Parliament
35 signatures