{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1632690,
        "msgid": "men-are-also-required-to-receive-the-hpv-vaccine-1774356675",
        "date": "2026-03-24 18:41:09",
        "title": "Men Are Also Required to Receive the HPV Vaccine",
        "author": "",
        "source": "DETIK",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Social Policy",
        "summary": "The article highlights the misconception that HPV and cervical cancer are solely women's issues, sharing personal stories of a mother vaccinating her 15-year-old son and a man seeking the vaccine after learning about its risks to underscore the need for male involvement in prevention. It discusses how HPV transmits without symptoms and can lead to various cancers in men, such as anal, penile, and throat cancers. Indonesian health officials emphasise government targets for eliminating cervical cancer by 2030 through expanded screening and vaccination for both genders, aiming for 95% coverage among 11-year-olds and 75% HPV DNA screening for women aged 30-69, noting the high mortality rate of around one to one and a half deaths per hour due to late diagnoses.",
        "content": "<p>For a long time, cervical cancer has been discussed as a women\u2019s\nissue. They are advised to undergo check-ups, receive vaccines, and\nunderstand the risks that seem to have to be borne alone. In health\neducation spaces, men are almost never mentioned. However, the virus\ncausing it, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), does not recognise gender\nboundaries. It spreads from body to body contact, often without\nsymptoms. Sofia\u2014not her real name\u2014once experienced a surprised response\nwhen she brought her 15-year-old son to get the HPV vaccine. Several\nvisitors at a clinic in South Jakarta questioned that decision. They\nconsidered the HPV vaccine unnecessary for men, because cervical cancer\nhas long been understood as a disease only related to women. \u201cI don\u2019t\nblame people for not knowing how important the HPV vaccine is for men\nbecause the fact is that socialisation about it is rarely heard, right,\u201d\nSofia told detikX. Since losing a close friend to cervical cancer, Sofia\nbegan to see this issue from a different perspective. She remembers how\nthe disease came without many signs, and was only realised when it was\ntoo late. In their last conversation, there was a worrying suspicion of\npossible transmission from a partner who was never detected. That\nexperience left a mark, and made her feel that prevention cannot only be\nburdened on women. Since then, Sofia has tried to seek information and\ngive understanding to her son about HPV. The virus can spread without\nsymptoms and men can be carriers. At that clinic, she paid around Rp 2.5\nmillion per dose, with a total of three doses that must be completed.\nFor her, vaccination is not just protection for her child himself, but\nalso a preventive step so that her son in the future does not become\npart of the transmission chain. Lately, Sofia also learned that the HPV\nvaccine is not only related to cervical cancer. This vaccine can help\nprevent several other cancers also related to HPV, such as anal, penile,\nand throat cancers. That information further strengthened her decision\nto continue vaccinating her son. \u201cWhat I can do now is prevent it from\nthe closest people,\u201d she emphasised. Angga\u2014not his real name\u2014also never\nreally knew what HPV was. He had never heard explanations about the\nvirus, let alone understood its impact on men. So far, the information\nhe captured was only that cervical cancer is a women\u2019s issue, without\never any explanation about men\u2019s role in it. That view changed when\nthree people he knew were diagnosed with HPV infection. That experience\nmade him start to feel worried. \u201cAt first, I didn\u2019t think about it at\nall. But when I found out my acquaintances got it, I immediately looked\nit up,\u201d Angga told detikX. From there, he started researching and\nrealised that men can also be carriers of the virus without symptoms.\nAngga then decided to visit one of the clinics in Jakarta. In addition\nto HIV and syphilis tests, he also chose to get the Gardasil 9 HPV\nvaccine, which is recommended because it can protect against nine types\nof HPV virus. The cost is not cheap, but he considers it an important\nstep. \u201cIt\u2019s quite expensive, but I see it as an investment, not just for\nmyself but also for future partners,\u201d he said. For him, prevention\nbecomes a more sensible choice. He realises that if one day infected, it\nwill not only affect himself, but also others. \u201cIf we\u2019re already\ninfected, our partner will definitely think twice. So it\u2019s better to\nprevent it now,\u201d he said. However, that experience also made him\nquestion the lack of information he received all this time. There are no\ncampaigns specifically targeting men, no education explaining that they\nalso play a role in HPV transmission. \u201cAll this time, no one has said\nthat this is also important for men,\u201d said Angga. Not only vaccines,\nAngga also hopes that men start to be more sensitive to their own body\nconditions. He believes that check-ups should no longer be considered\ntaboo, especially when unusual signs appear in the genital or anal area.\n\u201cIf you suspect there\u2019s a disease, you should get tested or checked.\nWhat I fear is that it sometimes spreads to others,\u201d he said. According\nto him, indifference is still commonly found in men, either due to lack\nof information or reluctance to get checked. Meanwhile, unknowingly,\nthat condition can impact not only oneself, but also partners. For\nAngga, awareness to get checked becomes an important part of prevention\nefforts that have so far often been overlooked, including cervical\ncancer in women. \u201cCervical cancer is estimated at around 36,964 cases,\nwith 20,708 deaths. That\u2019s why we convey one to one and a half deaths\nper hour,\u201d said the Director of Prevention and Control of\nNon-Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health, dr. Siti Nadia\nTarmizi. In fact, cervical cancer is one of the types of cancer that can\nactually be prevented, even eliminated. The government targets\nelimination through a combination of vaccination and screening.\n\u201cCervical cancer is one of the cancers that can actually be eliminated,\u201d\nsaid Nadia. The high death rate, according to Nadia, is closely related\nto delayed diagnosis. Many cases are only found when they have reached\nadvanced stages, when treatment opportunities are smaller. \u201cGenerally,\nit\u2019s detected when already in advanced stages,\u201d she stated. For that,\nthe government targets expanding screening and vaccination coverage. By\n2030, at least 75 percent of women aged 30\u201369 years are targeted to\nundergo HPV DNA screening, while vaccination coverage for children aged\n11 years, both boys and girls, is targeted to reach 95 percent. \u201cBecause\nwe want elimination, men must also be vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/men-are-also-required-to-receive-the-hpv-vaccine-1774356675",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}