The recent unanimous decision of a federal panel to recommend the vaccination of girls and young women against the viruses that cause cervical cancer is a huge step in reducing the deadly disease. Without enough funding to make the vaccine available to those most at risk, however, this is a hollow victory.

The vaccine, Gardasil, protects against cancer and genital warts by preventing infection from four strains of the human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted disease. The virus is also a cause of other cancers in women.

The vaccine ideally is given before a girl has had sex and is exposed to the sexually transmitted virus. The drug, made by pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., prevented infections from two strains of human papilloma virus that cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. It also prevented infection from two additional strains that cause 90 percent of cases of genital warts.

Cervical cancer is the second-most common cancer among women worldwide and the third most fatal. Each year, nearly 10,000 women contract cervical cancer in the United States and 3,700 die from the disease. About 60 women are diagnosed with the disease in Maine each year. The problem is much worse in the developing world, where more than 200,000 women die each year from cervical cancer and nearly 500,000 are infected annually.

Last month, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices unanimously recommended that girls and women from ages 11 to 26 get the vaccine. The panel advised that the vaccine should be included in the federal Vaccines for Children program, which offers free immunizations to about 45 percent of children nationwide. This paves the way for the federal government to spend as much as $2 billion to buy the vaccine for the nation’s poorest girls ages 11 to 18, those most at risk of getting infected with the virus.

However, federal funding for childhood vaccines has been cut in recent years, leaving states scrambling to make up the difference. Maine has provided childhood vaccinations for free to health care providers, a practice it finds increasingly difficult given federal funding cuts.

Gardasil is pricey at $360 for three shots over six months. Two large national insurance companies have said they will cover the vaccine for pre-teen girls. It is unclear what companies that operate in Maine will do.

Though the vaccine is costly, studies show that its widespread use would save more in health expenses than the cost

of buying the vaccine. In addition to treating cervical cancer, tens of thousands of women undergo expensive testing and procedures after receiving false positive results from Pap smears, the routine test for cervical cancer.

Ensuring as many girls and young women as possible are vaccinated with Gardasil will help reduce, and possibly eradicate, a dangerous disease.