Minister of state for education Dr Subhash Sarkar on Friday said that the human papillomavirus (HPV) will be administered to schoolchildren in a gap of nine years. The government had announced on Thursday that the cervical vaccines will be given to school girls between the age of 9 and 14 years for free.
Dr Sarkar told DH that the girls will be given the first vaccine in the first few months of 2023, and a second dose in nine years. “Cervical, oral, and breast cancers – these are the most prevalent in India, as well as worldwide. And the HPV vaccine, which is an expensive one, has been prepared for young girls, and they will be administered in schools,” the minister of state said.
The vaccine will soon be released, he added. “The vaccines will first be released to states, after which they will be sent to districts,” he added.
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The decision to administer the vaccine – Cervavac – came after the recommendation of the National Technical Advisory Group for Immunisation (NTAGI), and it was approved by the Drugs Controller GeneraI of India.
On Thursday, education secretary Sanjay Kumar as well as health secretary Rajesh Bhushan sent out a joint letter to states and Union Territories, asking them to issue appropriate directions for building vaccination centres in schools. The Centre also asked states to identify a nodal person in each government as well as private schools for administering the vaccination and collecting the name of the beneficiaries.
Some states like Delhi, Punjab and Sikkim have their own HPV vaccines. Delhi launched the programme in 2016, and was the first state to do so, followed by Punjab (2017) and Sikkim (2018).
A Lancet study has found that one in every five cervical cancer cases can be found in India. The study further states that 23% of all global cervical cancer deaths occur here.
