One could argue that cancer is among the most feared health problems in the United States today. It is common knowledge that smoking causes lung cancer, and that using sunscreen can prevent skin cancer. Unfortunately, many people do not know that the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) causes some types of cervical cancer. The recently developed HPV vaccine, under the name Gardasil, can prevent a significant amount of cervical cancer if administered before exposure to the virus.

Think, hypothetically, about the uproar that a vaccine against breast cancer would cause. Even if the vaccine didn’t prevent ALL breast cancer, but only a portion, women would be lined up outside of clinics waiting for their dose. Society would proclaim it to be one of the greatest achievements in modern science. Men would be thankful that they would never need to fear the possibility of their wives having a mastectomy. Though hesitant at first to cover the vaccine, insurance companies would be forced to do so by angered citizens across the nation. The mass media would interview the vaccine’s designers. No American could get to work without hearing about the new breast cancer vaccine on the radio.

Back to reality: no breast cancer vaccine exists. One vaccine does exist that has been proven to prevent some incidence of cancer: the HPV vaccine. However, since HPV is generally a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and cervical cancer isn’t as mentally tangible as breast cancer for most people, the vaccine has not received as much recognition as one would otherwise expect.

The HPV vaccine was licensed in 2006 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the vaccine protects against four types of HPV which cause 70% of cervical cancer and 90% of genital warts. HPV is the most common STI in the US, and can lead to genital warts in both men and women. Furthermore, it has been shown to cause cancers of the vulva, vagina, penis, and anus. Currently, the CDC recommends that girls ages 11 to 12 receive the vaccine to ensure its receipt before encountering the virus through sexual activity. The vaccine is also recommended for women ages 13 to 26 that have not yet received it. However, if one has already contracted the HPV, the vaccine cannot cure it nor prevent cancer.

The HPV vaccine may best be examined within the context of reproductive rights. Logically, all women should have access to a vaccine that can prevent cancer, regardless of the source of the cancer-causing virus. Yet despite the vaccine’s proven benefits, there are many people who do not support vaccination against an STI in young girls. Some parents fear that giving their daughters the vaccine may lead to an increase in risky sexual behavior. This fear has been proven to be unwarranted, just as it has been shown that providing comprehensive sexual education to teens does not increase sexual activity. Unfortunately girls may become sexually active in their teens without knowing the risks of HPV as well as other STIs, and would have benefited in the long run from both early education and vaccination.

One unfortunate aspect of the current use of the HPV vaccine is that it places a disproportionate burden on women’s responsibility for reproductive health. Men can contract HPV, and though they do not develop cervical cancer, they can develop other rare forms of cancer as well as genital warts. Men can certainly transmit the virus to their sexual partners, yet little research has been done regarding the efficacy of the vaccine in men. HPV cannot be eradicated from society if only half of the people (women) with the virus are expected to be vaccinated. Aside from the ethical reasons why men should simultaneously protect themselves against HPV to avoid passing it on to their partners, men should be given access to HPV from a public health perspective as well.

There are multiple barriers to receipt of the HPV vaccine. Aside from the aforementioned parental barriers which younger women experience, economic barriers can be present as well. If it is not covered by insurance, a full series of the vaccine can cost up to $360. This means that the women disproportionately at risk for HPV due to their low socioeconomic status will be less likely to receive the vaccine. The cost of the vaccine also makes it unlikely to be received by high risk women in developing countries, where cervical cancer is an even greater issue due to lack of routine medical screenings.

The HPV vaccine offers a new method of preventing some forms of cervical cancer, but may sometimes be difficult for women to access. Women have the right to be protected against this preventable form of cancer. Thus, the HPV vaccine should be available and affordable for both men and women. Cancer is cancer, regardless of its etiology, and any resources available must be used to fight it.