Tribute to Jamie Rae
JAMIE RAE
FRSA
1965-2025
FRSA
1965-2025
| Jamie Rae died very prematurely but peacefully at the age of 60 on 5 May 2025. The immediate cause of his death was pneumonia, but his health had been poor since he was diagnosed and treated for oropharyngeal cancer. His cancer was caused by HPV. Jamie came from a business background. In 1999, he founded a successful Scottish recycling company from his back bedroom. Under his leadership, the business grew to employ over 200 people and expanded internationally, operating in countries such as Hong Kong, Turkey, and the United States. In 2010, he decided to sell the business, and it was during this process he received devastating news: he had been diagnosed with cancer. During treatment, he became increasingly frustrated by the lack of advice, support, and reliable information available—particularly for people diagnosed with HPV-related throat cancers. He was also angry to learn that his cancer might have been prevented had he received the HPV vaccine as a boy. At the time of his diagnosis, in the UK, the vaccine was only offered to girls. Determined to make a difference, Jamie used his recovery as a launchpad to create the Throat Cancer Foundation. The charity was established with two clear goals: first, to campaign for gender-neutral HPV vaccination and, secondly, to support individuals facing a diagnosis and treatment of all types of throat cancer. He was also one of the founder members of HPV Action UK, a coalition of some 50 organisations that, over five years and ultimately successfully, made the case for gender-neutral vaccination. Jamie played a key role in that campaign, serving on its executive committee and providing much-needed financial support as well as always welcome and valuable advice. Crucially, he had the courage and commitment to initiate, under the auspices of the Throat Cancer Foundation, legal action against the UK government on the grounds that not vaccinating boys as well as girls constituted sex discrimination under UK equality law. The government changed its policy and extended the vaccination programme to boys before the case came to court, but it is clear that the threat of legal action helped make a difference. Clearly, this undertaking was not without risk to Jamie and the Throat Cancer Foundation and the fact that he was prepared to take this step when others were not, is testament to his determination to eliminate HPV as a cause of cancer. Jamie’s business and charitable work came to the attention of the Royal Society of Arts where he became a Fellow. Jamie’s calm, measured, thoughtful, kind and generous presence will be missed but definitely not forgotten by his many friends and colleagues in the HPV and cancer community in the UK and beyond. Download pdf Written by Peter Baker, Global Action on Men’s Health |
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