New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a historic initiative for daughters across the country, which will not only give a new direction to India’s health system, but will also save the lives of millions of girls. Prime Minister Modi launched the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program for 14-year-old girls from Ajmer, Rajasthan. This initiative is an important step towards improving the health of women in India and is being considered as part of the “Swasth Nari” campaign.
Importance of HPV vaccination
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women in India. According to Globocan 2022 data, more than 1 lakh 20 thousand new cases are reported every year, and about 80 thousand women die from this disease. Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by high-risk HPV infection, especially HPV types 16 and 18, which are responsible for about 80% of cases in India.
The matter of concern is that this cancer develops very slowly, but the good news is that it can be prevented by timely vaccination and screening. This is why PM Modi’s government has decided that HPV vaccination program will be started for 14 year old girls.
Program Features
This HPV vaccination program has been kept completely free and will be available at government health centres. This program will target approximately 1.15 crore girl children every year. Government health centers have been selected for vaccination, such as Ayushman Arogya Mandir, community health centres, sub-district and district hospitals and government medical colleges. Vaccination will be voluntary, but will be given only after parental consent.
The campaign will use the quadrivalent HPV vaccination – Gardasil, which is one of the most researched and safest vaccinations in the world. More than 500 million doses of this vaccine have been administered since 2006, and it has been found to be nearly 100% effective against the types of HPV it covers.
Campaign begins in mission mode
The campaign will run in mission mode for the first three months, with vaccination taking place every day at designated centres. After this, this program will become a part of a regular vaccination plan, so that every eligible girl child can get the vaccine on time and the cases of cervical cancer can be significantly reduced in future. This will ensure that no girl child is deprived of vaccination.
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