Gardasil: New Hampshire shows how it’s done

The keys to creating overwhelming demand for Gardasil: free and voluntary. Live free or die baby:

The New Hampshire experience contrasts sharply with that in many other states, where opponents have cited factors like the drug manufacturer’s profit motive and the fear that inoculating young girls will encourage them to be sexually active.

New Hampshire has critics of the vaccine, too. But its health officials, wanting to encourage use of the vaccine, called Gardasil, say they have hit on an optimal method: making it voluntary and giving it free to girls ages 11 to 18 . . .

. . . In New Hampshire, where people wear their independent streaks with pride, “I suspect that we’re not seeing a significant controversy because there was a never a discussion about whether to make this mandatory,” said Greg Moore, a spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department.

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