Gardasil protects against the 4 most common types of human papillomavirus (HPV), which together cause 70% of cervical cancer and 90% of genital warts.
It is true that a woman will not contract HPV if she never has sex, or if she and the person she chooses has never had sex with anyone else. If, however, the person she chooses to become intimate with has had sex, it's as if she did too. Men cannot be tested for HPV, and the cancer-causing types have no symptoms, so transmission is silent.
There are now data that HPV also causes some types of oral cancer, transmitted probably via...less traditional intimacy.
Most cases of cervical cancer are in women who have not had paps for years, this is true. But there are many insurance companies, as well as state and federal assistance programs, that will not cover annual exams or paps (or any other preventative care for that matter) so these are not all women just not getting screened out of ignorance or lack of time. I see dozens of girls and women every week in my clinic for abnormal paps. Not cancer, but potential precancerous lesions. These lucky women get to have a microscopic exam of their cervix, biopsies, paps every 6 months at best and a large biopsy to remove all of the abnormal area at worst. Not pleasant, and all of that is in the women who don't have cancer.
If a woman gets a vaccine, then gets pelvic inflammatory disease a week later due to something completely different, it has to be reported as a potential rare side effect. The "side effects" of abnormal paps and cervical cancer are not potential or rare. Unpleasant exams, surgical procedures, hysterectomy, slow painful death. Again, not pleasant.
Should Gardasil be required for school? Nope, but it certainly should be covered by all insurance companies for anyone who wants it, preferrably before they have sex, to avoid infection and stepping onto that long road to the eternal gynecology appointment. Do I make money off of it as a health care provider? A whopping $20, which I charge to cover the salary of the medical assistant administering it.
Vaccination is a choice, but please think about all of the repercussions before making that choice.