Today is World Cancer Day, and we’re thinking about something that should never have taken a fight in the first place: protecting boys from cancers caused by HPV.
Our founder, the late Jamie Rae, knew this wasn’t abstract policy. He was diagnosed with HPV-related throat cancer in 2010, and it changed everything for him.
What happened next is his legacy: he created the Throat Cancer Foundation to do two things—push for gender-neutral HPV vaccination and support anyone facing any type of throat cancer. He helped build HPV Action UK into a coalition of around 50 organisations, and he backed the campaign with time, money, and stubborn determination.
He also took the bold step others wouldn’t: initiating legal action arguing that excluding boys was discriminatory. The UK changed course and extended the programme to boys before it reached court—and it’s hard to ignore that the pressure worked.
We all miss Jamie. But as the three trustees, myself Gordon Dow, David McCabe and Professor Martin Birchall, we’re not done with what he started: prevention, earlier diagnosis, and real support for people living with the fallout of throat cancer.
If you want to honour him today: check HPV vaccination, share credible information, and back the work that keeps people safer.
#WorldCancerDay #BeThroatCancerAware #HPV #HumanPapillomavirus #ThroatCancer #HeadAndNeckCancer #CancerPrevention #CancerAwareness #UnitedByUnique
