India’s first vaccine against cervical cancer to come on September 1

As a first, India to get its first vaccine against cervical cancer tomorrow, September 1. The most awaited vaccine will be launched by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Jitendra Singh on Thursday.

The cervical cancer vaccine, Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV), is developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Department of Biotechnology(DBT).

According to Dr N K Arora, Chairperson of the COVID working group, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) said it is an exciting experience to launch a made-in-India vaccine.

“It is very exciting and I must say it makes us very happy that our daughters and granddaughters will now be able to get this much-awaited vaccine”.

“In fact, this is one of the last major vaccines to be introduced. In fact, this is one of the last vaccines that will be launched in the programme. Now, Indian vaccines will be available and we hope that it will be launched in the National Immunisation programme for 9-14-year-old girls,” he added.

“It is very effective and prevents cervical cancer because, 85% to 90% of cases, cervical cancer is because of this particular virus and this vaccine is against those viruses. So, if we give it to our young children and daughters, they are protected from the infection and consequently probably 30 years later, cancer does not occur,” Dr Arora further explained.

“There was a shortage in the global market. Now Indian vaccine has come. So, we will be able to take care of our requirements within our made-in-India vaccine,” he said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) data, 41, 91,000 women have died due to cervical cancer in India since 2019.

---

Next Story :

Now you can get latest stories from Indtoday on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.  Click to follow Indtoday Facebook page and Twitter and on Instagram. For all the latest Hyderabad News updates