The cervical cancer vaccine, also known as the HPV vaccine, which prevents infection of a virus that is the prime cause for cervical cancer, genital warts and other types of rare cancers. There are two different types of the cervical cancer vaccine available-- Gardasil and Cervarix. Both of these vaccines protects against the HPV-16 and HPV-18 viruses, which are both prime causes of cervical cancer. The reason why the cervical cancer vaccine is so important is because it is estimated that roughly 80 percent of American women will at one time or another, contract a strand of the HPV virus. Health officials in the Australia, Canada, countries in Europe and the United States urge all young women to receive the cervical cancer vaccine.

The main risk factor for cervical cancer is a strain of human papillomavirus, or the HPV virus, which alters the cells in the cervix, promoting cancer growth. Women who have had many sexual partners or have had sex with men who have had many partners are at the highest risk for cervical cancer. The use of condoms during sexual intercourse helps lower the risks of contracting the HPV virus, though it is not 100 percent effective. According to other research, smoking, the HIV infection, and STDs such as chlamydia are also risk factors that can increase the likelihood of contracting cervical cancer.

Both forms of the cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil and Cervarix have proven to be 100 percent effective in preventing cervical cancer from the HPV virus. Soon after HPV vaccines were developed and licensed for use, over 26 million doses have been administered in the United States of Gardasil. Out of this figure, only about 15,000 abnormal cases were reported by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. About 90 percent of these included minor side-effects, including fainting, intense pain, headache, nausea, and area swelling. Other more serious side-effects occurred in the rest of the vaccinated patients, which included death, permanent disability and a life-threatening illness. Some of these reports are inconclusive because they were probably unrelated to the vaccination. Gardasil is continuing tests to see its effects on women throughout their entire lifetime.

The National Cancer Institute claims that cervical cancer vaccination reduces cervical cancer deaths by as much as 60 percent. The vaccines in use today prevent about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases worldwide caused by the HPV-16 and HPV-18 viruses. Studies also show that administering vaccination in developing countries is also the most effective way in preventing spread of the virus that causes cervical cancer. Both forms of the vaccination are recommended for girls and women between the ages of 9 and 25, usually those who have not yet been exposed to the HPV virus. Further research suggests that the vaccine is useful for women up to 45 years of age. Pregnant women are not recommended to take the vaccination. As of 2007, it has been estimated that about 25 percent of all U.S. females between the ages of 13 and 17 have received one of the several available HPV vaccinations.

Currently, the United Kingdom and the United States have both licensed the HPV vaccine for boys of a certain age. In the UK, boys aged 9-15 are able to take the vaccine. In the U.S., boys 9-26 are able to be vaccinated with Gardasil.