Cake

The vaccine, Gardasil, made by Merck & Co., has been found to be 100 percent effective against HPV and is expected to be available as soon as next year. The vaccine works by making people immune to two types of a sexually transmitted virus that causes most cases of the disease. It is the first successful vaccine ever developed specifically to prevent cancer.

The virus is highly contagious, and approximately two-thirds of all people who have contact with an infected partner will develop HPV within three months. Once infected, there is no cure, so it would be vital to inoculate young men and women before they become sexually active.

So if it is ideal to vaccinate young women before they become sexually active, why then are conservatives against it?

Religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.

“Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex," Maher claims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the virus.

What crap! Everyone knows that the best cure for disease is unlimited access to good information.