To prevent cervical cancer, all states will administer indigenously developed human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to girls in the 9-14 age-group from mid-next year, Dr Subhas Sarkar, minister of state for education, said on Friday, listing the achievements of the Narendra-Modi led Central government in the sector as the year comes to an end amid fears of surge in Covid-19, as cases start to resurface in the country.
After oral cancer, cervical cancer causes the most cancer deaths not only in India, but globally.
Cervavac, the vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII), is cheaper and provides protection against four strains of HPV. It will be administered as part of a nationwide immunisation drive.
“The vaccine world over is expensive, but our government decided to develop it here for nationwide coverage of children in the specific age-group. It will be administered now and again after nine years. All schools will have to ensure that it covers all its girl students with the vaccine dose,” said Dr Sarkar, who addressed the media at his residence at New Moti Bagh.
Earlier this week, the ministry of education had said that the vaccination would be provided primarily through schools (grade-based approach: class 5-10).
The Centre wrote to all states to create awareness on prevention of cervical cancer and the importance of HPV vaccine among girl students in the country. In a joint letter by union education secretary Sanjay Kumar and his health counterpart Rajesh Bhushan, all states have been made aware of the same.
Four cabinet ministers, including Dr Sarkar, on Friday spoke on health initiatives taken by the Modi government since it came to power in 2014. Given that the country is set to go for the general elections in 2024, this is a pitch being made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, as it gears up for the same.
He also listed schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, Mission Indradhanush, which was launched to increase immunisation rates across the country against deadly diseases, and 16 new AIIMS being built across states.
While talking about the preparedness to fight a fourth wave of Covid, Dr Sarkar said that in 2020, they did not know much about the disease, but now they are ready to fight any situation. “For fighting the pandemic, the government has developed 3,388 testing laboratories, starting from 2020 to November 2022,” he said.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment