" Nice use of numbers, Galen. Too bad they're all either wrong or misleading. The 4 types of HPV that Gardasil is affective against account for 70(+)% of the cirvical cancer cases. I refer you to the Centers for Disease Control. Now that's taking a huge bite out of the problem by anybody's standard. Of those 4 infectious forms, #6, 11, 16 and 18, Gadasil has a 95% efficacy rating. And that, Galen, is, in the world of medicine, an excellent capability. I again refer you to the Centers for Disease Control. It is estimated that in 2007 the United States had 11,150 NEW cases of cirvical cancer and 3,670 deaths due to cirvical cancer. I refer you to the National Cancer Institute. SO, um, do you call those acceptable losses or are you prepared to do something about it. We've wailed for years about cancer and needing to find a cure. Now that we have a method of making a dramatic difference you want to complain about it and shift the focus. Focus here, Galen. We're talking about fighting cancer, not alchohol abuse. That's a whole 'seperate' problem that is, by the way being addressed in New York State and nation wide. If you refer to the New York State Department of Health you will find that cirvical cancer has no more or less the occurance and mortality rates of nearly all forms of cancer, save a couple. Now comes your campaign to end smoking and to fight breast cancer. But if cirvical cancer is running neck-and-neck with other forms of cancer then why not attack that problem? If not now, when? The drug is available now. When will you use? After the U.S. has another 11,150 new cases and 3,670 more women die? I refered to the U.S. Census Bureau to confirm your numbers about the population of girls in NY under 18 yrs old. Congratz. Ya got that right. However $360 times 2.3 million people is 828 million. Oops. I told all of the facts. Even the ones that don't support my argument. Of the roughly 20 million people in NYS, each would pay about $43 this year to fund these innoculations. But not everyone pays the same amount of taxes, now do they? The folks who make more pay more. I refer you to the IRS. And the folks who earn nothing pay nothing BUT will still be able to get the innoculations free of charge. I refer you to the welfare system that I've sunk a butt load into. As for Merck? Congratulations on your successfull endeavours in our capitalistic society that we have fought so hard to acheive over all of these years. Now, time to pay the overhead like researchers, lawyers, marketers, pharmasists, share holders, etc. "

" This is absolutely the wrong thing for any western government to contemplate. It is an example of poor government subjecting the masses to questionable policy. First, Gardasil works only against 4 of the 30 odd HPV viruses. It has only proven effective in 70% of the cases. The state of New York will have over 88,000 new cancers next year and cervical cancer will account for less than 1% of those occurrences. Furthermore, less that 250 women die each year in the state from this disease, whereas breast cancer will kill about 2770 women next year. Moreover the mortality rates are dropping 4% per year. Assemblywomen Paulin's proposal only really helps Merck, the drug producer who will receive 360 dollars per treatment. Over the roughly 2.3 million girls under 18, this represents a 820 million windfall for Merck. Besides a whole host of privacy and consent issues, financially, the state would be better applying the funds to the leading killers of young women - substance abuse, drunk driving, tobacco use etc. "

" Ever watch a woman die of cervical cancer? After a while, even the morphine can't dull the pain and she dies in agony, the pain undeniable. Remember being in high school and the pressures on you to do things that you knew you shouldn't but ... And now days, the push to have sex comes younger and younger. Besides, sexual transmission is not the only way to contract it. It is pased through bodily fluids. ie - blood, urine, saliva, etc. Stop reading; gaze at your daughter; feel the love for her; now imagine her dieing in agony and there's nothing that you can do about it. At least, not now that she's already got cervical cancer. There was an opportunity but you missed it. And now she's dieing. We've virtually eradicared several lethal diseases by inacculating our children. Look at the scar on your arm from the vaccine you got so young that you may not even remember it. It was new and people feared it. But it worked and millions of lives have been saved because of it. Maybe even yours or your spouse's. Don't be so xenaphobic. "

" you can legally refuse any vaccination, it is still a free country. just file for the waiver. "

" I think that this is just another way to get people's money. Cause they will make it a shot that your insurance or medicaid won't pay for. "

" How do I want to say this... kids don't have to have sex if they don't want to, but thy do have to breathe and eat and drink liquids. They're inoculating against an STD they might get IF they have sex... if it was an air or waterborne virus or bacteria that could spread readily (plague, influenza, etc), I could see the necessity. It should be up to the parents if their daughters get this inoculation or not regardless of religion, and then when they reach 18 or are emancipated, it should be their own choice. "

" Absolutely not! This is way too new to just start pushing it on people. Five years from now they could find out there are a bunch of side effects and end up pulling it from the market. And it doesn't prevent ALL types of cervical cancer, so it's not the end all, be all. I refuse to put something so controversial into my daughter. "