Free “universal” vaccination of adolescents will begin in French secondary schools to better fight wart virus which causes more than 6,000 cases of cancer in the country every year, French President Emmanuel Macron said today.

These cancers can be eliminated through screening and vaccination, according to the World Health Organization.

Universal vaccination “prevents many types of cancer” and “many countries have done that,” he said. Macron because vaccination coverage against the wart virus in France is one of the lowest in Europe.

The French President explained that vaccination would not be mandatory and parental consent would be required. “The question is whether it will become mandatory in the future,” Macron said.

The virus, which infects a large number of sexually active people, causes various infections of the skin and mucous membranes. Although the wart virus is often benign, infection can persist and lead to precancerous lesions and then cancer.