What India's first HPV vaccine could mean for fight against cervical cancer
- Serum Institute of India (SII)’s vaccine Cervavac recently received Drugs Controller General of India’s (DGCI) approval for market authorisation.
About the vaccine
- 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.
The disease
- 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.
Existing vaccines
- 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.
The new vaccine
- 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.
Prelims take away
- National Immunization Programme.
- Human Papilloma virus
- International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Cervical Cancer
- Cervarix
- Cervavac