Cervical Cancer

In Context

∙ The Union Budget 2024-25 encourages vaccination against cervical cancer.

About

∙ The government will encourage vaccination for girls in the age group of 9 to 14 years for the prevention of cervical cancer.

About Cervical Cancer

∙ Cervical cancer develops in a woman’s cervix (the entrance to the uterus from the vagina).  

∙ Spread: Almost all cervical cancer cases (99%) are linked to infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV), an extremely common virus transmitted through sexual contact.

∙ Although most infections with HPV resolve spontaneously and cause no symptoms, persistent infection can cause cervical cancer in women.

∙ Prevalence: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women.

∙ It is the second most common type of cancer in India for women.

∙ Prevention: Effective primary (HPV vaccination) and secondary prevention approaches (screening for, and treating precancerous lesions) will prevent most cervical cancer cases.

∙ Treatment: When diagnosed, cervical cancer is one of the most successfully treatable forms of cancer, as long as it is detected early and managed effectively.

∙ Cancers diagnosed in late stages can also be controlled with appropriate treatment and palliative care.∙ Vaccination: There are, at present, two vaccines available in the country against the human papillomavirus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer, namely Merck’s Gardasil and Serum Institute of India’s Cervavac.