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Cervical cancer vaccine likely to be administered in girls aged 9-14 years in June

In the first phase, 2.55 crore girls are targeted to be administered the HPV vaccine in 6 states, including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

ByPTI

Published Feb 12, 2023 | 7:56 PM ⚊UpdatedFeb 12, 2023 | 7:57 PM

Cervical cancer vaccine likely to be administered in girls between 9 to 14 years in June. Representational Image. (Soumen Hazra)

The Central government is likely to begin administering anti-cervical cancer vaccine in girls aged nine to 14 years in six states in June, official sources said on Sunday, 12 February.

In the first phase of the vaccination campaign, 2.55 crore girls are targeted to be administered the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, an official source told PTI.

The Union Health Ministry has drawn a roadmap to roll out the HPV vaccine in the universal immunisation programme and is likely to float a global tender in April for 16.02 crore doses to be procured by 2026, official sources said.

The Serum Institute’s made-in-India vaccine against cervical cancer, CERVAVAC, was launched last month.

Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Serum Institute of India (SII), has written a letter to the Health Ministry its first indigenous HPV vaccine will be available in the private market at an MRP of ₹2,000 per dose, it has been learnt. CERVAVAC will be available in a two-dose glass vial presentation.

Also read: Cervical cancer vaccine in the national immunisation programme

To be supplied at an affordable rate

Singh is learnt to have communicated in his letter that CERVAVAC will be supplied at an affordable rate whenever the Health Ministry floats a tender.

Currently, only one HPV vaccine — American multinational Merck’s Gardasil — is available in the private market in single-dose pre-filled syringe presentation and its price is ₹10,850.

India is home to about 16 percent of the world’s women, but it 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 percent lifetime cumulative risk of developing cervical cancer and a 1 percent cumulative death risk from cervical cancer, officials stated.

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

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)