What India's first HPV vaccine could mean for fight against cervical cancer

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated15/07/2022

Serum Institute of India (SII)’s vaccine Cervavac recently received Drugs Controller General of India’s (DGCI) approval for market authorisation.

Cervavac: India’s first quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) vaccine.
It will protect women against cervical cancer.
It will be rolled out in national HPV vaccination strategies, and be available at a cost more affordable than existing vaccines.

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Cervical cancer is preventable, but kills one woman every eight minutes in the country.
It is preventable if detected early and managed effectively.
It is a common sexually transmitted infection.
Long-lasting infection with certain types of HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer.
It is the second most common cancer type at global level and second most common cause of cancer death in women of reproductive age (15–44).
India accounts for about a fifth of the global burden according to WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO).
Preventive tools: Screening and vaccination
There is little awareness among women and less than 10% of Indian women get screened.

Two vaccines licensed globally are available in India - a quadrivalent vaccine (Gardasil) and a bivalent vaccine (Cervarix).
HPV vaccination was introduced in 2008, it is not included in national immunisation programme.

It is based on VLP (virus-like particles), similar to hepatitis B vaccine.
Provides protection by generating antibodies against the HPV virus’s L1 protein.