Home-made vaccine for cervical cancer may be rolled out this year

In a biggest push against cervical cancer, India is likely to introduce human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) this year in the country's immunisation programme. India's apex immunisation body, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), will take the final decision on HPV vaccine at a meeting to be held on June 29.

Serum Institute of India (SII) will launch the country’s first indigenous HPV vaccine, people in the know told ET. “NTAGI is actively considering the rollout of the HPV vaccine in the immunisation programme. The data on safety and efficacy will be presented before NTAGI and the drug controller at the end of this month,” added the person. The technical subcommittee of NTAGI had earlier recommended the introduction of the vaccine. “NTAGI will review the data and take the final decision,” added the person.

The government proposes to target girls aged 9-14 years for vaccination against cervical cancer. Currently, the vaccine is available only in private hospitals and costs up to `4,000 per dose. While the trials of human papilloma vaccine (HPV) vaccine used for cervical cancer had hit the wall earlier.