Cervical cancer vaccine soon

New Delhi: India's first indigenously developed quadrivalent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer will be launched in a few months and made available to the people in an affordable price range of Rs 200-400.

Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Thursday attended an event held to announce the scientific completion of the vaccine. Scientific completion implies that R&D activities pertaining to the vaccine are complete and now the next step of making them available to the public would take place.

Speaking at the event, Singh said Covid has raised awareness about preventive healthcare leading to the development of vaccines like the one against cervical cancer. "The schemes like Ayushman Bharat have made us think about preventive healthcare and we can now afford it. The Department of Biotechnology has taken a lead in the matter and are in collaborative mode. Scientific efforts at times do not get the scale of recognition they deserve. So this event is to celebrate that scientific completion," he said.

CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla, who was also present, told reporters on the sidelines of the event, "The cervical cancer vaccine will be affordable and would be available in the range of Rs 200-400. However, the final price is yet to be decided". Poonawalla said the vaccine will be possibly launched by the end of the year. First the vaccine would be made available through the government channel and from next year onwards some private partners would be involved too, he said.