GP practices across England will send invites via letters, emails, texts and the NHS App to patients aged 16-25 whose records show they did not get their HPV vaccination in school.

Dr Amanda Doyle, national director of primary care and community services, said: ‘This vaccine is hugely important in our fight to eradicate cervical cancer but it isn't just for girls and women – it's also vital for boys and men to get vaccinated to protect themselves against cancers of the mouth, throat or genitals, while preventing spreading the HPV infection to sexual partners who could then develop cervical cancer.'

The vaccine is routinely offered each year to boys and girls in year 8 (aged 12-13) to help protect them against catching the HPV infection which causes nearly all cervical cancers and is linked to cancers of the mouth, throat, anus, penis and vagina.

But in the last three years alone, more than 418,000 children left school unvaccinated and there are believed to be many others now aged 16-25 who were not jabbed at school. 

NHS chiefs want to reach as many as possible, under plans to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 as set out in the recently-published 10 Year Health Plan.

The NHS aims to boost uptake among girls to 90% by 2040, while also increasing the number of women getting cervical screening.

In the 2023/24 academic year, 76.7% of girls and 71.2% of boys aged 14-15 were vaccinated by year 10. Uptake in year 8 increased compared to the previous year (72.9% of girls and 67.7% of boys in 2023/24, compared to 71.3% and 65.2% respectively for the first dose in 2022/23).