Should HPV vaccines be mandatory in developing nations to ensure women’s health?

This issue would make a good paper topic. We know women die from cervical cancer in large numbers in many developing nations. Mandatory HPV vaccination would cut this death rate, but at what cost? It is projected that it would

take up most of the entire health budget in India. If not, then decisions have to be made about who gets the vaccine and what they have to pay. The abstract from the article below sums up the issues. What do you think?

Int J Equity Health. 2011; 10: 27.
Published online 2011 Jun 30. doi:  10.1186/1475-9276-10-27
PMCID: PMC3143925

Global challenges of implementing human papillomavirus vaccines

Abstract

Human Papillomavirus vaccines are widely hailed as a sweeping pharmaceutical innovation for the universal benefit of all women. The implementation of the vaccines, however, is far from universal or equitable. Socio-economically marginalized women in emerging and developing, and many advanced economies alike, suffer a disproportionately large burden of cervical cancer. Despite the marketing of Human Papillomavirus vaccines as the solution to cervical cancer, the market authorization (licensing) of the vaccines has not translated into universal equitable access. Vaccine implementation for vulnerable girls and women faces multiple barriers that include high vaccine costs, inadequate delivery infrastructure, and lack of community engagement to generate awareness about cervical cancer and early screening tools. For Human Papillomavirus vaccines to work as a public health solution, the quality-assured delivery of cheaper vaccines must be integrated with strengthened capacity for community-based health education and screening.