Centre set to roll out vaccine drive to fight cervical cancer

Subject : Science and Tech

Section: Health

Context:

The government is set to roll out a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign for girls in the 9-14 years age group.

More on news:

The immunization drive is planned in three phases over three years and is likely to start from the second quarter of this year.
India accounts for about a fifth of the global burden for cervical cancer, recording about 1.25 lakh cases and about 75,000 deaths each year.
According to the WHO, Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally.
About 83 percent of invasive cervical cancer cases are attributed to HPV 16 or 18 in India.
The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) has recommended that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) conduct trials on the efficacy of a single-dose regimen of HPV vaccine in the age group of 9-15 years.

About the Cervavac vaccine:

Cervavac is India’s first indigenously developed quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer.
It is developed by Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune
SII has a production capacity of about 2-3 million doses of Cervavac per year.
It offers protection against four HPV strains – 16, 18, 6 and 11.

About Cervical Cancer (Human papillomavirus infection)

HPV infection is a viral infection that commonly causes skin or mucous membrane growths (warts).
Human papillomavirus infection (HPV infection) is caused by a DNA virus from the Papillomaviridae family.
Nearly all cervical cancer is due to HPV, and two strains – HPV16 and HPV18 – account for 70% of all cases.
HPV16 is responsible for almost 90% of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers.