The Centre plans to include SII’s HPV vaccine against cervical cancer in the national immunization program.
“The health ministry is planning to roll out qHPV for girls aged 9-14 under the national Immunization Programme. The rollout may take up to six months,” a source told the media
agency.
New Delhi: The government plans to include the Serum Institute of India’s indigenously-developed Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) against cervical cancer in the
National Immunization Programme.
Currently, the country fully depends on foreign manufacturers for the HPV vaccine. Three foreign companies manufacture the HPV vaccine, of which two firms sell their vaccines in India. The sources said that each dose of the jab in the market costs over Rs 4,000.
SII’s vaccine is likely to be available at a much more affordable rate.
Cervical cancer in India ranks second most frequent among women between 15 and 44 years of age. Globally, 6,04,000 women are affected by cervical cancer, and 3,42,000 women die.
In India, every year, 1,22,844 women are affected with cervical cancer, of which 67,477 women
die.
The sources said that cervical cancer could be prevented by vaccinating girls in the age group of 9-14 years with the HPV vaccine. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on July 12 granted market authorization to SII to manufacture qHPV. The phase 2/3 clinical trial of the vaccine has been completed with the support of the Department of Biotechnology. The government’s advisory panel NTAGI recently approved qHPV after reviewing clinical trial data of
the vaccine.
