New Delhi: India’s free Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination drive has administered nearly 50 lakh doses of the cervical cancer vaccine to 14-year-old girls within three months of its launch, covering almost half of the target cohort of 1.15 crore girls nationwide, according to health ministry officials.
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have achieved 100% of their respective targets, while Mizoram has covered about 93% of its target population, the officials said.
“The rapid rollout marks a significant step in India’s fight against cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women,” a government official said.
The programme, which uses MSD’s single-dose HPV vaccine Gardasil, was launched with the objective of eliminating cervical cancer, a disease that claims more than 42,000 lives annually in India.
Cervical cancer is the second-most common cancer among Indian women after breast cancer, with nearly 80,000 new cases reported every year. Until recently, the HPV vaccine was available primarily through private healthcare facilities at a cost of up to ₹4,000 per dose, placing it beyond the reach of many families.
Vaccination is being carried out exclusively at designated government health facilities, including primary health centres, district hospitals and government medical colleges, under the supervision of trained medical personnel equipped to manage rare adverse events.
To ensure uninterrupted availability, the government has secured adequate vaccine supplies.
Gardasil, approved by India’s drug regulator and widely used globally, has been procured through India’s partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, officials said.
The adoption of a single-dose schedule follows a 2022 review by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, which concluded that a single dose provides protection comparable to two-dose regimens.
The Union government had announced in the 2024 Budget that it was considering including the HPV vaccine in the national immunisation programme. The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization has since recommended its introduction. HPV vaccination in India had faced controversy in 2010 after reports of deaths among girls who had participated in a demonstration project involving the vaccine. Subsequent investigations found no causal link between the deaths and vaccination.
