India is set to undertake a country-wide Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination initiative for adolescent girls, as part of a special public health campaign against cervical cancer— one of the most common yet preventable cancers affecting women, a source familiar with the development said.
The high-profile rollout is just days away, a Government source told businessline, of the national programme to vaccinate adolescents in the country. India’s public health infrastructure broke new ground with its vaccination programme during Covid-19, a first in adults. This later extended to the youth as well. The country has, however, been running immunisation campaigns for infants for several decades.
Quadrivalent HPV vaccine
The proposed HPV campaign covers adolescent girls (14 year-olds only), who will be vaccinated with the single dose Gardasil 4, a quadrivalent HPV vaccine that protects against HPV strains 16 and 18, which cause cervical cancer, besides 6 and 11. The programme is in line with the World Health Organization recommendation that identifies HPV vaccination as key to the Global Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer. (Gardasil is the HPV vaccine from Merck Sharp & Dohme.)
About one crore vaccines have been supplied through India’s partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and supplied to the States, the official said. The total commitment is for 2.6 crore vaccines. There are about 1.15 crore girls in the 14-year bracket, the source added. The vaccine is WHO-approved and single dose (helping better adherence, compared to multiple dose vaccines), the source said, indicating its choice for the national programme. Earlier reports suggested Serum Institute of India was to be part of this programme.
Cervical cancer remains the second most common cancer among women in India, with nearly 80,000 new cases and over 42,000 deaths reported annually, the source pointed out. Scientific evidence establishes that almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by persistent infection with high-risk types of Human Papillomavirus (HPV), particularly HPV types 16 and 18, which together account for more than 80 percent of cervical cancer cases in India – the source pointed out.
The vaccine is non-live, does not cause HPV infection, and has an excellent safety record, supported by more than 500 million doses administered globally since its introduction in 2006, the source explained. India’s approach is backed by expert recommendations of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), the official indicated, adding that the campaign covered 14 year-old girls, as a preventive before potential exposure to the virus.
Vaccine safety
GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix (discontinued in India, few years ago) and Gardasil had come in for scrutiny in 2010, following the death of tribal girls who had participated in feasibility studies evaluating the use of cervical cancer vaccines for mass vaccination. The study was done in Gujarat and then undivided Andhra Pradesh by the non-government organisation PATH. The companies, though, had stood by the safety and efficacy of their vaccines.
The national HPV vaccination programme will be conducted at designated government health facilities, including primary health centres), community health centres, Sub-District and District Hospitals, and Government Medical Colleges, the source said.
Published on February 24, 2026
