India Launches National HPV Vaccine Drive to End Cervical Cancer

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 4 March 2026

• The Government of India has launched a nationwide campaign on HPV
• The main goal of this campaign is to curb and eradicate cervical cancer
• This campaign was launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on February 28, 2026

Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated a national HPV vaccination program that aims to reduce the occurrence of cervical cancer cases throughout India.

This new program will be established in stages, by providing centre-based free HPV vaccine immunisations for pre-teens and teenage girls throughout the country. Cervical cancer remains a leading cause of cancer deaths among Indian women and is responsible for approximately 25 percent of all cervical cancer deaths worldwide.

One of the vaccines used in the national HPV vaccination program is the quadrivalent HPV vaccine which protects against both HPV types 16 and 18 (which are responsible for over 80 percent of all cervical cancers in India).

Based on available clinical evidence, the best time to give this HPV vaccine is prior to the patient becoming sexually active; hence the program is giving only one dose of vaccine to all 14-year-old girls enrolled in the program.

However, men and women aged 14-45 years of age are also eligible for vaccinations at various schedules contingent upon age group of the recipient.

Along with giving out vaccines, Canada also wants to help people overcome concerns about getting vaccinated.

The target group is all girls aged 14 no cost to get vaccinated at government health facilities. In India, more than 120,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and approximately 80,000 die from cervical cancer.

The vaccine is the four-valent (4v) HPV vaccine which protects against the four strains of HPV that cause the majority of cervical cancer cases.

This campaign will make India the 161st country to include this vaccination in their national immunization program.