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EN

OJ C, 28.6.2024
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It is envisaged to give Union support to Member States to develop or upgrade electronic vaccination registries or equivalents in line with the General Data Protection Regulation, without prejudice to the tasks of the national data protection authorities and in respect of any relevant guidance of the European Data Protection Board, as well as to optimise procedures for parental or legal guardian consent, in respect of national legislation in the field. This would, amongst others, happen by mapping national approaches across the Union and discussing successful ones with Member States.

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HPV infection can lead to precancerous conditions of the cervix and cervical cancer in women. In the Union and the European Economic Area EEA, there are around 28 600 cases of and 13 700 deaths from cervical cancer every year 4. Infection with HPV can also lead to other anogenital cancers in both women and men vulvar, vaginal, penile and anal cancers as well as head-and-neck cancers, such as oropharyngeal cancers, of which there were around 19 700 cases in the Union and the EEA in 2022, mostly around 15 000 in men 5. This emphasises the importance and need of vaccinating all adolescent and preadolescent girls and boys against HPV and of enabling equitable access to vaccination to reach high vaccination coverage rates not only in girls, but also in boys.

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Risk-based screening in line with the Council Recommendation on strengthening prevention through early detection: a new EU approach on cancer screening 6 can help prevent cervical cancer in women. However, no organised population-based or targeted screening programme is currently recommended in Member States and EEA
countries for women to prevent other cancers caused by HPV infection. And so far, there is no organised screening for such cancers recommended for men. Furthermore, secondary prevention programmes can be an important contribution to reducing HPV-related cancer burden, especially in at-risk population groups.

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Vaccination against HPV within national immunisation programmes is crucial for cancer prevention in both women and men but also ensuring access beyond this framework is essential for broader coverage and protection.

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All Member States recommend vaccination of adolescent and preadolescent girls against HPV. Many Member States also recommend it for boys of those age groups, some of the countries extending recommendations to also cover, via targeted catch-up campaigns, young adults who did not get vaccinated or fully vaccinated during adolescence or preadolescence.

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Data for vaccination uptake show that whereas a few Member States have vaccinated more than 90 % of adolescent or preadolescent girls with one out of the two doses that are needed for those age groups 7 this figure remains low, below 50 %, in other Member States 8. Only limited data are currently available for vaccination uptake in boys as well as in young adults.

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Public confidence in HPV vaccines is falling across the Union, in particular among young people. Although confidence among health professionals in these vaccines is overall high, it varies between Member States 9.

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Confidence issues in relation to HPV vaccination should be tackled by addressing persistent safety concerns as well as low perceived risk of getting cancer due to HPV infection. The underestimation of the importance of HPV
vaccination as a cancer prevention tool, in particular among boys and their parents or legal guardians, should also be addressed by continuing communication efforts and by monitoring and addressing misand disinformation related to HPV infection and HPV vaccination.

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ECIS - European Cancer Information System, accessed on 27/10/2023. EU/EEA figures computed as the sum of values for EU-27, Norway, and Iceland.
Ibid.
Council Recommendation of 9 December 2022 on strengthening prevention through early detection: a new EU approach on cancer screening replacing Council Recommendation 2003/878/EC OJ C 473, 13.12.2022, p. 1.
Three doses are needed for older young people.
https immunizationdata.who.int/pages/coverage/hpv.html?CODE=EUR&ANTIGEN=PRHPV1_F&YEAR=&ADVANCED_
GROUPINGS=EURO
A. de Figueiredo, R.L. Eagan, G. Hendrickx, E. Karafillakis, P. van Damme and H.J. Larson, State of Vaccine Confidence in the European Union 2022, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union; 2022.

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ELI: http data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/4259/oj