HPV vaccination can prevent cervical cancer, says expert

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 18

The number of women with breast cancer are expected to almost double every year and the cervical cancer is predicted to rise by at least 25 per cent, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Cervical Cancer is the second most common form of cancer among the women in Punjab.

This was stated by Dr Baldeep Singh, Managing Director, Deep Hospital. Every year , around 8,00,000 women die of cervical and breast cancer. Two-third of deaths from the breast cancer and 9 of 10 deaths from the cervical cancer occur in the LMICs.

Baldeep Singh said: “A significant number of cervical cancer cases are being recorded in the state from the past few years,” he said.

Some NGOs and the government were trying to introduce a vaccine at an affordable cost. The government’s initiative to introduce the HPV vaccine in the immunisation schedule for girls aged 10 years or more was appreciable, he said.

The cervical cancer could be prevented through the HPV vaccination. It could help protect them from the cancer, he said.

Given the rising burden of the disease, the state government had decided to include the HPV vaccine in the state immunisation programme. The government would soon sign a MoU with the UNICEF to procure 40,000 vaccines to check the spread of cervical cancer in the state. In the first phase, the vaccine would be administered to approximately 10,000 Class VI girls in government schools of Mansa and Bathinda districts. According to the National Centre for Disease Informatics Research and National Cancer Registry Program reports, incidences of cervical cancer were highest in Bathinda at 17.5 followed by Mansa 17.3.