📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / SaraPavicevic
Health
India’s HPV Vaccination Drive Surpasses 8 Million Doses in Fight Against Cervical Cancer
✍️ Business Standard
🗓 11 Sep 2026, 07:33 PM
👁 25
The national HPV vaccination programme has administered over 8 million doses, marking a major step toward India’s goal of reducing cervical cancer incidence.
India’s HPV vaccination drive, launched in 2022, aims to immunise adolescent girls against the human papillomavirus, the leading cause of cervical cancer. The programme, coordinated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and supported by the WHO, targets schools and community health centres across the country.
According to the latest government data, more than 8 million doses have been administered so far, a milestone that underscores the rapid scaling of the initiative. This figure represents a sharp rise from the previous year and moves the nation closer to its target of vaccinating 26 million girls by 2025.
Health officials say the expanded coverage will help lower cervical cancer rates, which currently rank among the top five cancers affecting Indian women. The ministry plans to intensify outreach in rural areas, integrate the vaccine into the national immunisation schedule, and continue monitoring safety and supply‑chain logistics.
According to the latest government data, more than 8 million doses have been administered so far, a milestone that underscores the rapid scaling of the initiative. This figure represents a sharp rise from the previous year and moves the nation closer to its target of vaccinating 26 million girls by 2025.
Health officials say the expanded coverage will help lower cervical cancer rates, which currently rank among the top five cancers affecting Indian women. The ministry plans to intensify outreach in rural areas, integrate the vaccine into the national immunisation schedule, and continue monitoring safety and supply‑chain logistics.