The vaccine manufacturer Merck revealed that Health Canada has extended an approval to Gardasil used for the prevention of genital warts caused by HPV infection in boys and men aged nine to 26.

Gardasil is also to be administered to girls across Canada, and provincial programs began popping up across Canada to deliver in-school vaccination clinics.

The Public Health Agency of Canada posted that it is currently reviewing the data and will make a recommendation to the provinces on the grounds of their findings.

HPV, or human papillomavirus, is the most common sexually transmitted virus and can also cause anal cancer in men. Gardasil has already been approved for females aged nine to 26 in Canada to prevent cervical cancer and genital warts.

The current figures reveal that nearly 70% of sexually active men and women suffer from at least one HPV infection over the course of their lives. And while there are more than 100 different varieties of HPV, only four of them results in most genital warts and cancers. Gardasil is effective at preventing infection from all four types.

Australia is reported to have successfully vaccinated above 70% of women under the age of 28 and has been able to accumulate significant data.