Gujarat has initiated a campaign to vaccinate 5.50 lakh adolescent girls against cervical cancer through a Human Papillomavirus (HPV) immunization drive. The campaign, which started in Ahmedabad following a national rollout, aims to safeguard 14-year-old girls from cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among Indian women. Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the nationwide drive in Rajasthan on February 28.
The campaign in Gujarat was officially inaugurated at Sola Civil Hospital by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Health Minister Praful Pansheriya. Health officials highlighted the importance of protecting young girls from cervical cancer, a disease that accounts for about 17.7% of cases among Indian women. In India, a woman is diagnosed with cervical cancer every four minutes and 12 seconds, with one death occurring every seven minutes due to this disease.
According to national data, a significant percentage of patients are diagnosed with cervical cancer at advanced stages, making it a leading cause of death among women aged 30 to 69 years. In 2022, India recorded over 1.27 lakh new cases and nearly 80,000 deaths related to cervical cancer, with Gujarat alone reporting 4,928 new cases and 1,781 deaths during the same period.
Experts at the Gujarat Cancer Research Institute (GCRI) emphasized the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine in preventing high-risk HPV types 16 and 18 infections, which are major contributors to cervical cancer cases. They stressed the importance of early vaccination to prevent the progression of HPV infection to invasive cancer over time.
