Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Dec;56(4):432-439.
doi: 10.3947/ic.2024.0070. Epub 2024 Aug 8.

A Review of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination and Associated Ethical Concerns

Affiliations
Review

A Review of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination and Associated Ethical Concerns

Eric Fu et al. Infect Chemother. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Since its Fast-Track approval by the Federal Drug Administration, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been marked by controversies. Unconfirmed reports of adverse events in both Japan and Denmark led to suspensions of national vaccination programs, which setback the fight against cervical cancer and associated mortality and morbidity. Despite follow-up studies of vaccine adverse reports, additional randomized control trials, and review reports from both the World Health Organization and the European Commission, there is still a great deal of hesitancy around the vaccine. While all three version of the HPV vaccine have been shown to be efficacious and safe, additional ethical dilemmas deserve to be considered as well.

Keywords: HPV vaccine; Human papillomavirus; Vaccine ethics; Vaccine hesitancy; Vaccine safety.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No conflict of interest.

Comment in

References

    1. Human papillomavirus vaccination. Committee Opinion No. 704. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Obstet Gynecol. 2017;129:e173–e178.
    1. Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Siegel RL, Torre LA, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2018;68:394–424. - PubMed
    1. Beavis AL, Gravitt PE, Rositch AF. Hysterectomy-corrected cervical cancer mortality rates reveal a larger racial disparity in the United States. Cancer. 2017;123:1044–1050. - PubMed
    1. Petrosky E, Bocchini JA, Jr, Hariri S, Chesson H, Curtis CR, Saraiya M, Unger ER, Markowitz LE Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Use of 9-valent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine: updated HPV vaccination recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015;64:300–304. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tomljenovic L, Shaw CA. Too fast or not too fast: the FDA's approval of Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil. J Law Med Ethics. 2012;40:673–681. - PubMed