N.B. signs on to HPV vaccine program

New Brunswick's health minister has confirmed the province will sign on to a program offering vaccinations for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, but his department hasn't determined exactly who will get the vaccine.

The recently announced federal budget earmarked $300 million for a three-year vaccination program against HPV, offering the vaccine exclusively to women.

Although sexually active men and women are both at substantial risk of getting HPV, the virus has been linked to cervical cancer.

But Health Minister Mike Murphy says there is still some doubt about which age groups should be vaccinated.

"We're kind of scrambling, determining how we would proceed with this, whether this would be offered to two cohorts of young women those in elementary or those in elementary and later grade levels," he said. "So right now, we're not determined as to how we're going to do this, other than to tell you that it's going to be done."

The province will have a plan ready soon, he adds.

HPV is among the most common sexually transmitted infections in Canada. Health Canada estimates that 75 per cent of Canadians will contract at least one HPV infection in their lifetime.

Vaccinations are estimated to cost about $435 each. The federal government will underwrite that expense for the first three years of the program, but after that, it will be up to the provinces to continue.

Nova Scotia and P.E.I. have already signed on to the program.