Disclosing this, Dr N K Arora, chairperson of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), instructed The Indian Express: “There is political commitment at the highest level.”

The quadrivalent vaccine known as Cervavac, developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII), affords safety in opposition to 4 strains of HPV — 16, 18, 6, and 11. SII CEO Adar Poonawalla had stated earlier that the vaccine is likely to be priced at Rs 200-400 per dose. The vaccines obtainable available in the market at present are priced at Rs 2,500-3,300 per dose.

“The Sikkim government purchased vaccines from GAVI in 2016 and rolled out a programme, vaccinating nearly 97% of all girls between the ages of 9 and 14 years in campaign mode. They now provide it as part of routine immunisation and the coverage is about 88-90%,” stated Dr Arora.

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Learning from Sikkim’s expertise, women within the 9-14 years age group will first need to be vaccinated in opposition to HPV in marketing campaign mode, adopted by the inclusion of the vaccine as a part of routine immunisation for nine-year-olds, he stated.

While the Delhi authorities had additionally rolled out an HPV immunisation programme across the identical time, it wasn’t as profitable because the vaccines had been obtainable at solely one of many state authorities run hospitals.

“When we talk of the target population of the vaccine, they are all children of school-going age, and that is where it has to be introduced. When we go to a single-age cohort, it can be given in primary school, where the enrolment is a high 90%. But we have to look beyond that too, we have to reach the girl children who are not in schools as well,” stated Dr Arora.

Citing classes learnt from the Covid-19 vaccination drive, he stated a system much like CoWIN could also be used. “A communication strategy is needed before any such rollout happens. The acceptance of Covid-19 vaccine also did not happen by default. There was pushback during the initial two to three months, but we saw the hesitation go down with effective communication,” he stated.

In addition to finishing up an immunisation drive, Dr Arora emphasised the necessity to perform screening for girls above the age of 30 years. “If women over the age of 30 years go for cervical disease checkup every three to five years, any cancer can be quickly detected. In fact, if detected at an early stage, cervical cancer can even be treated at the PHC level — the morbidity and expensive treatment happens because there is delay in detection. If cancer is suspected, doctors can do an immediate point-of-care DNA test, and cauterise the cancerous tissue,” he stated.

SII had acquired approval from the nation’s apex drug regulator in July this 12 months, after presenting knowledge of its immunogenicity trial performed throughout 13 centres the place the response of the vaccine was in comparison with Merck’s Gardasil quadrivalent vaccine.