Cervical shield for Class IX students
Himanta Biswa Sarma speaks at the news conference in Guwahati on Thursday.
Guwahati, Jun 25 : The human papilloma virus that kills more than 74,000 women globally every year will find it difficult to touch Assam’s new generation, with Dispur deciding to administer anti-cervical cancer vaccines to Class IX girls from October.
Announcing Dispur’s decision here this afternoon, Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said chief minister Tarun Gogoi agreed in principle yesterday to launch the anti-cervical cancer vaccination and a proposal to that effect has been forwarded to the finance department.
Government estimates suggest the number of the targeted group would be around one lakh and the drive would cost the state exchequer approximately Rs 60 crore.
Though Sarma did not reveal the names of the vaccines except that it was a World Health Organisation-recommended quardivalen vaccine that works on other forms of cancer that affect the reproductive system.
Partha Gogoi, regional director, health and family welfare, said quardivalen vaccine was available in the market as Gardasil.
The vaccine is effective in women before they become sexually active, bringing the incidence of cervical cancer cases down by around 60 per cent, Sarma said.
“Everything remaining equal, we will be launching the drive in October as a pilot project in 10 districts, which are yet to be decided on. The need for the drive is important because at any point of time we have 62,000 cancer cases, of which the number of cervical cancer case is around 8 per cent. The vaccines are available in the market but are costly, so we decided to launch the drive and will cover both private and government schools,” he added.
A leading gynaecologist of the city, Hemanga Baishya, said the two vaccines available in the market are Gardasil and Cervarix, which help check the human papilloma virus that causes cervical cancer.
This form of cancer, Baishya added, was mostly prevalent in women who were from disadvantaged background, had multiple sexual partners, early marriage or several children.
“It is a good move. The vaccines became available here a year back but are pretty expensive. Therefore, for the drive to be truly effective, the government should cover the high-risk group — women who are poor,” Baishya said.
The principal of Gauhati Medial College and Hospital, M.M. Deka, too, welcomed the move, saying the available vaccines were “tested and safe”.
The free anti-cervical cancer vaccine drive, once launched, would be among several such health initiatives — free pace maker, chemotheraphy, kidney transplant, cardiac surgery and phacosurgery — made available in the state for those below the poverty line and the middle-class in the past few years.
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