Abstract
For the past several years, there has been a growing awareness of the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases. One disease in particularly, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), affects over six million individuals every year, comprised mostly of girls between fifteen and twenty-five years of age. Because there are over a hundred strains of this disease, contributing to about 70% of all cervical cancer cases, scientists have researched and developed a vaccine to protect against several strains of HPV. This vaccine is called Gardasil. The research that led to the development of the vaccine started in the 1980s, and finally in June of 2006 a pharmaceutical company, Merck & Co., had the vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Keywords: epidemic, Human Papilloma Virus, vaccine, Gardasil, Merck & Co

Ethical Issues and Principles with Gardasil
After 5 years of clinical trial, Gardasil has been proven to protect against four of about 40 types of HPV, according to the CDC's informational brochure. HPV strains 6 and 11 are responsible for 90 % of genital warts diagnosed in the United States, and HPV strains 16 and 18 are responsible for 70 % of cervical cancers (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). More specifically, Gardasil is expected to reduce the incidence of HPV related genital disease, including cervical, penile, vulvar, vaginal, anal cancer, precancerous lesions, genital warts, and laryngeal papillomatosis. In order to produce the vaccine, which costs patients about $360 for 3 shots, pleasant to American consumers, Merck took attention away from its controversial qualities. The company marketed Gardasil as a “cervical cancer vaccine, with girls in advertisements repeating the "one less" mantra--"one less woman who will battle cervical cancer” (Snider, 2010). This vaccine is recommended for children, both boys and