DCW chief Swati Maliwal issues notice to Centre, seeks introduction of HPV vaccine in Universal Immunization Programme

New Delhi [India], August 16 : Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Wednsday said that she issued notice to the Centre seeking the introduction of the HPV(Human Papillomavirus) vaccine in the Universal Immunization Programme for adolescent girls.
Noting that over 75,000 women die due to cervical cancer in the country annually, she said the HPV vaccine is unaffordable for most women. 
"Over 75K women die due to cervical cancer in India annually. It’s preventable thru HPV vaccine which costs 10K rupees! Thats unaffordable for most women & girls. Issued notice to Centre seeking introduction of HPV vaccine in Universal Immunization Programme for adolescent girls," the DCW chief posted on X (formerly Twitter). 
In her notice to Director, Directorate General of Health Services, Government of India, she said that it is estimated that every year, approximately 1.25 lakh new cases are diagnosed and over 75 thousand deaths occur in the country. 
"According to the research conducted by several institutes published in the journal The Lancer Global Health, we have one of the highest burdens of deaths from cervical cancer in the world with one in every five, or 21 per cent, cases of cervical cancer globally being reported in India," the notice said.