Historically, the combination of understanding the viral origin of disease, the development of effective vaccine strategy, and US public health policy has resulted in a marked decline of viral-associated death in the United States. Wards dedicated to the treatment of complications of measles, mumps, rubella, and diphtheria have disappeared from our modern medical framework. Unfortunately, this approach has been ineffective in the prevention of the human papillomavirus (HPV) pandemic. Although a vaccine for HPV has been available for more than a decade, vaccination rates are still low in the United States. We believe this gap provides an opportunity for modification of US public health policy for vaccination as well as a key role for otolaryngologists in promoting this change.