Cervical Cancer: Cervical cancer has become a big problem for women nowadays. In this difficult time, the Government of India has taken an important step in this field. By April-May of 2023, the HPV (Human Papillomavirus) vaccine will be made available to girls aged 9-14 years. This nationwide vaccination campaign will be started in the year 2023. In a special conversation with The Indian Express, Dr. NK Arora, Chairman of the National Technical Advisory Group on Vaccination (NTAGI), said that there is political commitment at the highest level. That’s why we are trying to implement it in the whole country as soon as possible.
‘Serum + Institute of India’ will make vaccine
Serum Institute of India (SII) will develop a vaccine named Cervavac to prevent cervical cancer, provides protection against four strains of HPV – 16, 18, 6 and 11. SII CEO Adar Poonawalla had already said that the cost of the vaccine would be Rs 200-400 a dose. At the same time, the cervical vaccine which is available in the market. The cost of those vaccines is Rs 2,500-3,300 per dose.
97% girls were vaccinated
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According to Dr. Arora, the Sikkim government bought a vaccine named GAVI in 2016 and girls between the ages of 9 and 14 were given the vaccine. Statistics show that according to the data of the Government of Sikkim, 97% of the girls were vaccinated under this program. Now they provide it as part of routine immunization and the coverage is around 88-90%.
Vaccines will be given to girls aged 9-14 years
According to Dr. Arora, we should learn from Sikkim in this matter. There the girls of 9-14 years of age were vaccinated. In the same way we should get vaccinated to fight cervical cancer under this campaign, after that the vaccine should be included as part of routine immunization for nine year olds. At the same time, the Delhi government had also started this program in its state almost like Sikkim. The HPV vaccination program in Delhi was not successful because vaccines were available in only one of the government hospitals of the state government.
Girls who do not go to school will be given vaccine at their home
Dr. Arora further says that we should vaccinate all the school going girls. But we should also get those children vaccinated after reaching their homes. who do not go to school. On the other hand, we should learn from the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Before running such a campaign, we need a successful strategy before the rollout. There was some pushback during the initial two to three months, but we saw the hesitation subside with effective communication.
Women in their 30s should get regular screening
According to Dr. Arora, we should always take care of some things to prevent cervical cancer. First of all, the emphasis should be on getting screening done for women above 30 years of age. If women above 30 years of age go for cervical disease checkup every three to five years, then any cancer can be detected early.
Regular screening can detect cancer early
Cervical cancer can be treated at PHC level also if cancer is detected in the beginning itself. Cancer treatment is long and expensive because of the delay in detection. If cancer is suspected, doctors can do an immediate DNA test, and take cancerous tissue in situ. SII received approval from the country’s apex drug regulator in July this year after it submitted data from its immunogenicity trials conducted at 13 centres, where the response to the vaccine was compared with Merck’s Gardasil quadrivalent vaccine.
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