To explain the Lancet study, Al Jazeera’s Linh Nguyen compared the deaths from 2000 to 2024 for women aged 20-24.
The UK had started administering the HPV vaccine to teenage girls in 2008.
Despite no evidence, many people were led to believe that cervical cancer vaccination causes early menopause or infertility.
New Delhi: HPV vaccination at an early age can reduce cervical cancer deaths to zero, according to a study in The Lancet.
The Lancet study has evidence that cervical cancer can be eradicated with a public health campaign started in schools.
To explain the Lancet study, Al Jazeera’s Linh Nguyen compared the deaths from 2000 to 2024 for women aged 20-24. The numbers came down from 25 to 0. The UK had started administering the HPV vaccine to teenage girls in 2008. At the time, the move had been met with skepticism and stigma. Despite no evidence, many people were led to believe that cervical cancer vaccination causes early menopause or infertility. Now that there is evidence of the vaccine’s impact for the first time in history, it may encourage progress in the healthcare system.
This is a big discovery in the field of women’s health research—cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer death among women after breast, lung, and colorectal cancer. According to the World Health Organisation, about 3,50,000 women die every year globally because of cervical cancer. Most of these deaths—90 per cent—occur in low and middle-income countries due to unequal healthcare access.
New Delhi: HPV vaccination at an early age can reduce cervical cancer deaths to zero, according to a study in The Lancet. Researchers in England found that women who received the vaccine at ages 12–13 experienced an 87 per cent reduction in cervical cancer incidence and a 100 per cent reduction in cervical cancer mortality.
The Lancet study has evidence that cervical cancer can be eradicated with a public health campaign started in schools.
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Access to vaccination
Cervical cancer deaths are most prevalent in middle and low-income countries. In 2022, China reported the most deaths—1,50,659—among 10 countries. India was in second place with 1,27,376 deaths. According to a study published on the National Library of Medicine, the Indian population of approximately 365.71 million women above 15 years of age is at risk of developing cervical cancer.
The Indian government launched a HPV vaccination campaign in February this year. Member of NITI Aayog Dr. Vinod K Paul announced that the vaccine will be administered to girls at the age of 14. “Dr. Paul added that the objective is to ensure that before their reproductive life begins and as they grow older, they are aware and fully protected through vaccination so that they do not contract the infection,” Akashvani News reported.
The HPV vaccine was reportedly first introduced in India in 2008 but social barriers and misinformation have kept several women unvaccinated. Moreover, it was hardly affordable to most women. In 2023, Serum Institute of India developed India’s first HPV vaccine, Cervavac. Each dose costs Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500.
