New Delhi, 1 September: The country’s first indigenous vaccine to prevent cervical cancer was launched on Thursday. The Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have jointly developed a vaccine against cervical cancer called ‘quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV)’. The price of this vaccine has been kept between Ra 200-400 and it will be available in the market by the end of the year.
Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said that after Covid-19, awareness about the vaccine has increased among the people. The first indigenous vaccine to prevent cervical cancer will prove to be helpful for women, he added. Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla said that the price of this vaccine will be kept low. The price of this vaccine can be between Rs 200-400.
According to the Minister, Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer in women and accounts for nearly one-fourth of the world’s cervical cancer deaths despite being largely preventable. This cancer develops in the uterus of the woman. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) data, around 5,70,000 women worldwide were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2018, and around 3,11,000 women died of the disease.
