Cervical cancer vaccine to be included in school vaccination program in the U.S.

The U.S. government has added a new vaccine which protects girls and women from from cervical cancer to their subsidized vaccine program for schoolchildren.

Drug company Merck says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has included Gardasil, the new vaccine for cervical cancer to it's government-subsidized vaccine program for schoolchildren which means the vaccine will be accessible to all school-age girls from age 9.

Gardasil is designed to protect against four strains of human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and genital warts.

There are more than 100 types of HPV, but the four strains Gardasil is designed to protect against, account for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women.

The CDC has included Gardasil in its Vaccines for Children program, under which the government buys vaccines for uninsured or poor schoolchildren and the intention is that young girls are vaccinated before they become sexually active.

The program provides coverage for children through age 18.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the vaccine in June for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26 following the recommendation of an advisory panel to the CDC stating that girls as young as 9 and young women up to age 26 should have access to the Merck vaccine and that it be included in the subsidized vaccines program.

Merck says there are estimated to be as many as 20 million people infected with HPV in the U.S., and around 80 percent of women will have acquired HPV by age 50.

In the majority of cases, the HPV infection clears up on its own without causing cancer and other health problems.