I would actually favor mandatory vaccination for STDs like this, mainly because voluntary vaccination won’t work when you have parents that want to pretend that their children won’t be having sex. “If we vaccinate, that sort of tells our children that we think it’s OK for them to have sex, which means they will.” Sort of like birth control pills. If it’s mandatory instead of voluntary, this logic no longer holds true, which makes it more socially acceptable to get the vaccination when you might not have otherwise. Since many of these children will, in fact, be having sex, and will run the risk of contracting HPV, this will potentially save a lot of lives.

The question of costs and public debate is still a good one, however.