Jacob John

STORY | Government set to launch HPV vaccination against cancer for girls aged 14; to use single-shot Gardasil In a major step towards eliminating preventable cancers among women, the Union government will soon launch a nationwide human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme targeting girls aged 14 years, official sources said on Tuesday. According to sources, the programme will use a single-shot Gardasil, a quadrivalent HPV vaccine, that provides protection against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause cervical cancer, as well as types 6 and 11. The drive would be a special vaccination campaign and not under the government's Universal Immunisation Programme. It is in line with the World Health Organization recommendations, which identify HPV vaccination as a central pillar of the Global Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer. "Strong global and Indian scientific evidence confirms that a single dose provides robust and durable protection when administered to girls in the recommended age group," an official source said. The nationwide programme will target girls aged 14 years, an age at which the HPV vaccine offers maximum preventive benefit, well before potential exposure to the virus. In the open market, quadrivalent Gardasil-4 is a two-dose vaccine – each costing Rs 3,927 – for girls below 15 years. For those above 15 years, three doses of the vaccine are required. The Gardasil-4 vaccine is manufactured by MSD India. READ: ptinews.com/story/national/g…