This week in health news, two new studies published in the journal Pediatrics confirmed that there are no health risks associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine . This might sound like a bit of déjà vu, because the medical community has been saying this since the first HPV vaccine, Gardasil, was FDA-approved in 2006. Not only have 12 years of data proven it safe, experts say, but it significantly reduces a person’s risk of developing cervical, throat, mouth, and anal cancers, the majority of which are caused by the HPV virus . The World Health Organization even believes that if enough people are vaccinated against HPV, cervical cancer could be eliminated altogether . Clearly, there are (and have always been) many reasons to opt in to this vaccine, all of which outweigh its risk of minor side-effects . So why do health experts need to keep convincing us of this fact? One part of the answer is purely practical. A new version of the Gardasil vaccine, called Gardasil 9, wa...