The Lancet calls for mandatory HPV vaccination

An editorial in the current issue of the The Lancet is making news. (Free registration required.) It says, in part:

"For effective and long-term eradication of HPV, all adolescents must be immunised. Data from the vaccine trials in boys are urgently needed; in the mean time, EU member states should lead by making the vaccinations mandatory for all girls aged 11-12."

Here's coverage of the editorial from Forbes.com, the BBC, and the Telegraph. The Lancet is a bit imprecise about the status of the Michigan bill that would mandate vaccination -- while it did pass the Michigan Senate last month, House consideration of the bill will not begin until after next month's election, and its passage is by no means assured.

The biggest question is what the editorial means, precisely, when referring to making vaccination mandatory in the E.U. The term implies some program of enforcement and consequences for those who refuse vaccination. (In the U.S., of course, that takes the form of being prohibited from school or day-care.) These mechanisms don't exist in the E.U.; their establishment would represent a major policy change and an equally large philosophical shift regarding European vaccination efforts.