The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has recommended that India should introduce a cervical cancer vaccine in its universal immunisation programme.
The minutes of the December 19 meeting of NTAGI that were uploaded on Wednesday read: “The NTAGI endorsed the STSC recommendation for introduction of HPV with certain points in mind as follows (i) An effective communication strategy has to be in place with all the important information. It was stressed that communication should bring out (1) That cervical cancer is the disease caused by HPV infection which is transmitted sexually, b) The vaccination is recommended for both boys and girls. However, as girls bear direct burden of the disease and given current costs, introduction of vaccine will be done for girls in the initial period. c) Vaccine does not eliminate the need for screening and screening should be done regularly in the susceptible population after the age of 30 years. d)The public must be informed of the goals, delivery and potential impact of the vaccination programme.”
The recommendation though is unlikely too change India’s decision to put the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine introduction on the backburner. Last month Swadeshi Jagran Manch the economic wing of RSS wrote to the prime minister against the introduction of the vaccine in the national programme citing safety and cost concerns. However the decision to not immediately act on the HPV introduction that was announced soon after the NTAGI meeting and even before the minutes were made public, health ministry officials claim, is not linked to SJM’s opposition.
Human Papilloma Virus, commonly known by its abbreviation HPV, is a group of more than 150 viruses that cause papilloma or warts in parts of the body, including genital areas.
It added: “Studies need to be done to understand the protective efficacy of vaccine among married vs unmarried population. This is important because uninformed rollout is unfair for the recipients.
As per the population based cancer registries reports, globally, cervical cancer is the 4th most common cancer in women. In India, cervical cancer is the 2nd most common cancer in women and the country contributes to largest proportion of global cervical cancer burden. Nearly 99,099 estimated cervical cancer cases and 66,552 deaths due tocervical cancer occur annually. At any given point of time, nearly 4,18,175 cervical cancer cases are present in country.
