Explained: What India’s first HPV vaccine could mean for fight against cervical cancer

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: What India’s first HPV vaccine could mean for fight against cervical cancer” published in Indian Express on 13th July 2022

What is the News?

The Serum Institute of India(SII)’s Vaccine “Cervavac” has received the Drugs Controller General of India’s(DGCI) approval for market authorisation.

What is Cervavac?

Cervavac is India’s first quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine(qHPV) vaccine. It is intended to protect women against cervical cancer.

Based on: The vaccine is based on VLP (virus-like particles), similar to the hepatitis B vaccine and provides protection by generating antibodies against the HPV virus’s L1 protein.

Significance: The approval of this vaccine will allow the government to procure enough HPV vaccines at a special price to vaccinate nearly 50 million girls aged 9–14 years in India who are waiting to receive the vaccine. This will be a huge step to accelerate cervical cancer elimination in India and globally.

What is Cervical Cancer?

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Other Facts related to Cervical Cancer:

Cervical cancer is a common sexually transmitted infection. Long-lasting infection with certain types of HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is preventable as long as it is detected early and managed effectively.

Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer type and the second most common cause of cancer death in women of reproductive age (15–44). 

India accounts for about a fifth of the global burden of Cervical Cancer. It kills one woman every eight minutes in the country.