The challenges facing the cervical cancer vaccine

Cost is a big one:

Gardasil offers nearly 100% protection against the two most common cancer-causing HPV strains, as well as two others that cause genital warts. But at $360 for three shots given over six months, the vaccine, which was developed by Merck, is among the most expensive on the market. The price tag alone probably puts it out of reach for many uninsured women in the U.S. (as well as those whose insurance companies balk at the cost), not to mention millions of poor women in the developing world, where cervical cancer is a leading cause of death.

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