New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday announced the “Cervavac”, India’s first indigenously-developed vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer, will be launched in the next few months and will be available in the price range of Rs 200-Rs 400.
Cervical cancer ranks as the 2nd most prevalent cancer in India and accounts for nearly one-fourth of the world’s cervical cancer deaths despite being largely preventable.
As per current estimates, every year, approximately 1.25 lakh women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and over 75,000 die from the disease in India, 83 percent of invasive cervical cancers are attributed to HPVs 16 or 18 in India, and 70 percent of cases worldwide.
Announcing the scientific completion of the quadrivalent Human Papilloma Virus (qHPV) vaccine in presence of Adar C. Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India and other prominent scientists and dignitaries, Union Science & Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said that this affordable and cost-effective vaccine marks an important day for the DBT and the BIRAC as it takes India a step closer to PM Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
He noted that the most promising intervention for preventing cervical cancer is vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV). It is estimated that HPV types 16 and 18 (HPV-16 and HPV-18) together contribute to approximately 70 percent of all invasive cervical cancer cases worldwide.
