Govt to encourage vaccination of girls against cervical cancer

As per 2022 estimates, every year, approximately 125,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and over 75 thousand die from the disease

PTI, New Delhi, Feb 1, 2023 : The government will encourage vaccination of girls in the age group of 9-14 years to prevent cervical cancer.

    

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made this announcement while presenting the Union interim Budget 2024-2025 in Parliament.

The Union Health Ministry had last month said that it is closely monitoring incidences of cervical cancer in the country and is in regular touch with states and various health departments on this.

In June 2022, based on fresh evidence on disease burden, evidence on effectiveness of single dose of HPV vaccine, clinical trial data and experience of the Sikkim government on the introduction of the vaccine, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization recommended the introduction of HPV vaccine in the universal immunisation with "a one-time catch-up for 9-“14 year-old adolescent girls followed with routine introduction at nine years", the Rajya Sabha was told in March.

India is home to about 16 per cent of the world's women, but accounts for about a quarter of all cervical cancer incidences and nearly a third of global cervical cancer deaths.

Indian women face a 1.6 per cent lifetime cumulative risk of developing cervical cancer and one per cent cumulative death risk from cervical cancer, officials had stated.

According to some recent estimates, every year almost 80,000 women develop cervical cancer and 35,000 die due to it in India.

Presently, the Serum Institute's made-in-India vaccine against cervical cancer, CERVAVAC, is available in the private market for about Rs 2,000 per dose.    

MSD Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck Sharp and Dohme (known as Merck and Co, Inc in the US and Canada) continues to sell its HPV vaccine Gardasil 4 (quadrivalent vaccine) in India which is currently priced at Rs 3,927 per dose.