Why in the News
India will roll out a nationwide free Human Papillomavirus vaccination programme for adolescent girls in 2026 to prevent cervical cancer, according to Health Ministry sources.
Key Features of the Programme
- Target group: 14 year old girls
- Voluntary and free of cost
- Administered at:
- Ayushman Arogya Mandirs
- Community Health Centres
- District hospitals
- Government medical colleges
- Supervised by trained medical officers
- Post vaccination observation systems in place
- India joins over 160 countries that have introduced HPV vaccination.
Disease Burden in India
- Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in India.
- Around 80,000 new cases annually.
- Over 42,000 deaths each year.
- Persistent HPV infection, especially types 16 and 18, causes over 80 percent of cases.
About HPV
- Human Papillomavirus is a group of viruses transmitted through close contact.
- Most infections resolve naturally.
- Persistent high risk infection can cause cervical cancer over time.
Why Target Age 14?
- Vaccine is most effective before exposure to the virus.
- Provides long lasting immunity.
- Prevents infection before onset of sexual activity.
- The World Health Organization and its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization have recognised that a single dose schedule can provide comparable protection to two dose regimens in many cases.
- Immunocompromised individuals may require two or three doses.
| [2022] In the context of vaccines manufactured to prevent COVID-19 pandemic, consider the following statements: The Serum Institute of India produced COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield using mRNA platform. Sputnik V vaccine is manufactured using vector based platform. COVAXIN is an inactivated pathogen based vaccine.
Which of the statements given above are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 |
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