According to her, if awareness of this issue increases, it may increase enthusiasm for HPV vaccination. This makes the risk of disease much lower.
The number of cases of oral or pharyngeal cancer has doubled in recent years, according to figures from the Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Netherlands, from about three hundred per year to nearly seven hundred per year.
HPV is the main culprit
Known risk factors are smoking and alcohol. However, the main cause these days is human papillomavirus, which is transmitted through sexual contact. Girls and women can get cervical cancer, among other things. What is less well known is that the virus can also cause other types of cancer.
While the number of smokers has been declining for years, researchers are increasingly seeing HPV infection as a cause of oropharyngeal cancer, which mainly affects men (young men). In the early 1990s, only a small percentage of all cases were caused by HPV, but now that number is probably closer to half. Although treatments are improving, oropharyngeal cancer can be fatal.
Lack of knowledge
A poll conducted by Verhes among more than a thousand people revealed a significant lack of knowledge, especially regarding the risks to which men are exposed. Only 30 percent of participants knew HPV at all. Of this group, only 30% knew that the virus could cause oropharyngeal cancer. According to her, there is still a lot to be gained.
GGD doctor Putri Hintaran answers five questions about the HPV vaccine in the video below:
“Vaccinations provide good protection against the virus and cancer associated with HPV,” Verhes said in a statement. “But if parents are not aware of HPV or the consequences of infection, they may be less likely to vaccinate their children.”
