Schoolboys and girls alike in Alberta will now be offered the HPV vaccine — including students in some Catholic school districts where the immunization program was banned in the past.

The Alberta government announced Thursday it’s extending its HPV program to male students starting next fall.

The move, which brings the cost of providing the vaccine to $16 million, makes Alberta the second province in Canada after Prince Edward Island to implement an in-school program for boys.

The province first began offering Alberta girls HPV vaccinations in 2008, making the program available at school and at public health clinics.

Since then, about 61 per cent of Grade 5 and Grade 9 girls have been immunized.

Dr. Hadi Seikaly, a University of Alberta professor of surgery and oncology, said new research suggests that close to 100 per cent of oropharyngeal head and neck cancers in men under 40 are HPV-related.

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, James Talbot, said the province was waiting on the results of new research on the vaccine’s effectiveness for boys and a cost-benefit analysis to ensure the plan was worthwhile before rolling out the extended program.

“We would really urge every family and every school board to look at making it as easy as possible to make the healthy choice. This is a choice that, if made now, will pay off for their children in the future,” Talbot said.

The immunization program for girls initially met with some reluctance, particularly in Calgary where the Calgary Catholic School District banned the vaccination from its schools up until 2012.

A spokeswoman said the school district views Thursday’s announcement as an extension of its current practice to allow the vaccine to be provided on school premises, and has no plans to further review the situation.

In Lethbridge, where the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic school division voted in October to allow the immunization for girls, the board chairman said its schools will also allow public health officials to offer the vaccine to boys.

Just a handful of school divisions remain that ban the vaccine, said Juliet Guichon with HPV Canada, an advocacy group set up in June 2012 when there remained a dozen school board holdouts against the immunization.

“We do see the light at the end of the tunnel. This announcement is really wonderful news,” she said.

Under the expanded HPV immunization program, the vaccine will be given to Grade 5 boys as part of the routine immunization program, with a four-year catch-up program available for Grade 9 boys.

The province estimates that about 32,000 Grade 5 students and 15,500 Grade 9 boys will receive the vaccination next fall.

On Thursday, Health Minister Fred Horne said investing in the immunization campaign is meant to protect both boys and girls from HPV-related cancers and reduce future health-care costs.

The school-based program, offered for free, is voluntary and requires the consent of a parent or guardian.

jkomarnicki@calgaryherald.com