India’s First Indigenously Developed Vaccine For Cervical Cancer Prevention To Be Launched On September 1
Cervical Cancer is one of the most common and dangerous forms of cancer, in the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it has been proven that all women are at a major risk for developing cervical cancer. This occurrence is most common in women who are above the age of 30 and it can be extremely hazardous. The vaccine against this is, therefore, literally the need of the hour.
According to the World Health Organisation, “Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604 000 new cases and 342 000 deaths in 2020 and this number has only increased since.” Fortunately, India is all set to launch its first vaccine against cervical cancer on Thursday i.e., September 1, 2022. This much-awaited creation shall be launched by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, Jitendra Singh, on September 1.
Who Developed The Vaccine?
This much-awaited cervical cancer vaccine has been developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Department of Biotechnology(DBT). In fact, Serum Institute’s qHPV vaccine managed to achieve its market authorization from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in the month of July itself. This mission was marked successful on July 12th.
On the same day, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla also tweeted about this amazing achievement. He talked about how by being both affordable and accessible, this vaccine is going to bring a lot of hope to the country.
For the first time there will be an Indian HPV vaccine to treat cervical cancer in women that is both affordable and accessible. We look forward to launching it later this year and we thank the #DCGI @MoHFW_INDIA for granting approval today.
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) July 12, 2022
Also Read: What Is The HPV Vaccine For Women? Here’s Why You Should Consider Getting Vaccinated
Dr N K Arora, Chairperson of the COVID working group, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) exclaimed, “It is very exciting and I must say it makes us very happy that our daughters and granddaughters will now be able to get this much-awaited vaccine.”
Speaking further, Dr Arora said that the cervical cancer vaccine is one of the “last major vaccines to be introduced” in the current programme. He shared that Indian vaccines will now be available and he hopes that the vaccine will be launched in the National Immunisation Programme for girls between the ages of 9 to 14 years. Discussing the efficacy of the vaccine, Dr Arora said that it’s extremely effective and prevents cervical cancer in 85% to 90% of cases. He also explained that the vaccine works against the virus that causes cervical cancer and shared that if it’s given to children at an early age, it protects them from infection and in turn, prevents cancer from occurring years later.
There has been a global shortage of this particular vaccine and now that there will be an effective and efficient made-in-India vaccine available in the market, we are bound to be able to help treat more people not only in the country but on a global scale.
Also Read: HPV Vaccine Reduces The Risk Of Developing Cervical Cancer By 90%, Says Study
This is a brilliant achievement for the country, as a whole. Let’s hope more and more women receive this vaccine. We congratulate the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Department of Biotechnology(DBT) and thank them for their commendable efforts. After all, saving lives is the biggest, noblest achievement in the world, isn’t it?
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