© AFP
From 1 August, the French Community will also reimburse the vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV) for boys up to the age of eighteen.
mtmBron: BELGIAN
The measure follows a court decision in March this year that ordered only girls to receive the vaccine for free up to the age of 18.
Under existing regulations, girls and boys up to the age of 15 can be vaccinated free of charge through the French Community school program. After this age, the vaccine was only reimbursed for girls until the age of eighteen.
There was compensation for boys. As a result, they had to pay up to 400 euros out of their own pocket to get vaccinated.
The human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most contagious sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The virus, of which there are more than 100 types, can be passed on from the first sexual contact. An infection with HPV can lead to the development of skin disorders and (genital) warts, but certain variants can also cause cancer. For girls, this mainly concerns cervical cancer (more than 99 percent of cervical cancers are caused by an HPV infection), for boys it is throat, anus and penis cancer.
In Flanders, the government offers the vaccine against HPV free of charge to all girls and boys in the first year of secondary education. A full vaccination consists of two shots, which are normally given over the course of one school year.