JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The state health department said Monday it will offer cervical cancer vaccine for females between the ages of 9 and 18.

The Department of Health & Social Services will distribute more than 20,000 doses of Gardasil to public and private health clinics by early summer.

The federal government is providing the funding for Alaska to cover the costs for girls, mostly from low-income families, who are eligible for a program called Vaccines for Children.

Unlike other states, where this immunization is highly politicized and is being put into law, the state department's program is voluntarily.

"This is cancer prevention; it is a health issue," said Laurel Wood, Alaska's immunization program manger. "It is important for people to get vaccines for their daughters."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Gardasil last summer for females ages 9 to 26. Gardasil prevents infection from certain types of human papillomavirus, which is a sexually transmitted virus, a potential cause for cervical cancer and genital warts

Costs for the three-shot series is $288, and Wood estimates the program to cost $5 million this year, enough to provide the series for more than 17,000 females.

If all females in the age range _ regardless of eligibility for the federal program _ were to get the shots this year, it would cost nearly $16 million, Wood said.

But Wood said it's not likely all will get the shots in the initial offering.

"As we have estimated this, typically with a new vaccine, not everyone recommended to receive it is going to get it in the first year," Wood said.

For more than 30 years, the state has used federal money to provide all immunizations recommended for children, from polio to measles to tetanus.

In 1985, costs for necessary vaccines per Alaska child cost the government $45, according to the health department.

Since then, several more vaccines, including Gardasil, have been recommended for children, pushing the per-child cost to $1,222 for a female and just under $1,000 for a boy in 2007. The state had to limit the cervical cancer vaccine to help save on costs.

Planned Parenthood of Alaska began offering the shots in December and about 50 females statewide have received them, said the organization's Chief Executive Officer Clover Simon.

Wood says she understands how the shot could be perceived as means to undercut abstinence education and parental authority.

"We are not saying that in Alaska, it's OK for a child to begin sexual activity," she said. "That is a separate issue and discussion between parents and children."

Alaska children eligible for the free shots are American Indians or Alaska Natives; the uninsured; those whose insurance does not cover the shots, and those enrolled in Medicaid.

Heavy lobbying by vaccine maker Merck & Co. and perceived parental infringement have made this issue a divisive topic in several states.

Bills have been introduced in about 20 states to require the vaccine, but some lawmakers have backed off or been blocked by governors.

In New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson vetoed a bill that would have required girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. The veto, however, won't change a state program enabling school districts to participate in a voluntary program to vaccinate fifth graders.

In Virginia, the Legislature approved an amendment making it easier for parents to exempt their sixth-grade daughters from receiving the HPV vaccine. The change, proposed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, removes the requirement for parents to submit written requests for the exemption.

In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry circumvented the Legislature and ordered shots for girls entering the sixth-grade as of September 2008. Some lawmakers want to override Perry's executive order, which fell under additional scrutiny when Merck's lobbying came from his former chief of staff.