The national programme uses Gardasil-4, a quadrivalent single-dose Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, to prevent cervical cancer.
- A Gardasil-4 provides 93–100% effectiveness against the targeted HPV types.
- A quadrivalent vaccine works by stimulating an immune response against four different antigens, such as four different viruses or other microorganisms.
About Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
- HPV is the name of a group of 200 known viruses.
- It is a common sexually transmitted infection.
- They do not cause concerns in most people, but Persistent HPV infection with high-risk HPV types is the cause of cervical cancer.
- In 90% of people the body controls the infection by itself.
Cervical Cancer
- It is the fourth most common cancer in women globally.
- In India specifically, it is the second most common cancer among women.
- India accounts for 25% of global cervical cancer deaths and it ranks fourth globally in cervical cancer-related morbidity.
- It disproportionately affects younger women, 20% of children who lose their mother to cancer do so due to cervical cancer.
