First vaccination project against cervical cancer launched in Gujarat

The Government of Gujarat on Thursday launched India’s first ever vaccination project against cancer of the cervix(Cervical cancer), leading cause of cancer deaths among women that affects about 1,32,000 women every year and about 75,000 deaths are reported from the disease annually.

As part of the two years demonstration project, about 16,000 school-going as well as non-school going girls between 10 to 14 years of age will be vaccinated by three doses of vaccines over a period of 6 months, free of cost in three government-selected blocks of Vadodara district (Dabhoi, Shinor and Kawant) by the government. This will help the Centre to examine the possibility to introduce the vaccination project across the country..

The vaccines will be administered by trained government health workers in school premises, health centres and aganwadis, according to state Health and Family Welfare Minister Jaynarayan Vyas.