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Medical Ethics

The Promise of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Does Not Confer Immunity Against Ethical Reflection

Division of Medical Ethics, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, USA

Key Words. HPV • Cervical cancer • Ethics • Justice

Correspondence: Inmaculada de Melo-Martín, Ph.D., M.S., Division of Medical Ethics, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 411 East 69th Street, New York, NY 10021, USA. Telephone: 212-746-1268; Fax: 212-746-8544; e-mail: imd2001{at}med.cornell.edu

The recent announcement of an experimental vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) has raised great hopes and expectations. Promising trial results, however, should not obscure ethical issues related to a vaccine’s ultimate dissemination. Although lay media might view an HPV vaccine as a panacea, a more complicated ethical reality exists, touching upon public knowledge, health care disparities, and parental consent for childhood vaccination.

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