Posted by H. Sandra Chevalier-Batik

By promoting vaccination as a public health imperative mandated by government, rather than as a private choice, Merck has opened the door to the inherently uncomfortable discussion of whether mandatory vaccination is cost effective. Since Merck claims Gardasil protects against the two strains of HPV that cause 70 percent of cancers, women will still need but may be less likely to get Pap smear tests to catch the signs of cervical cancers caused by the other 30 percent of dangerous strains.