After Poonam Pandey passed away from cervical cancer, what vaccination schedule was revealed by the Center in the interim Budget 2024?

After Poonam Pandey passed away from cervical cancer, what vaccination schedule was revealed by the Center in the interim Budget 2024?

Poonam Pandey, an actress and model, passed away on Friday at the age of 32 from cervical cancer.

According to her media manager, actress and model Poonam Pandey passed away on Friday at the age of 32 from cervical cancer. Remarkably, the announcement was made only one day after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave the Parliamentary presentation of the interim Budget for 2024–25, which included initiatives to promote HPV vaccination as a preventative tool against cervical cancer. A strategy has been put out.

Who qualifies for the vaccination program against cervical cancer?

Sitharaman said that the government will support HPV vaccination for girls between the ages of 9 and 14 in order to prevent cervical cancer, but she did not provide any information regarding the program. The government is looking at ways to lower costs so that vaccinations for cervical cancer treatment become more accessible, according to a report from ANI. The research recommends that the government promote HPV vaccine for cervical cancer via information, education, and communication (IEC) initiatives in addition to price reductions.

"CervaVac": The cervical cancer vaccine that India just produced

Notably, Indian researchers have created the first human papilloma virus vaccine, known as "CervaVac," which may prevent cervical cancer and other diseases linked to HPV.

This vaccine was created and produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune, and it will be a part of India's national vaccination program starting in 2024.

Cervical cancer: What is it?

Cancer is a disease that affects almost all animals and humans due to aberrant cell growth and spread. Since prehistoric times, traces of cancer have been discovered in human remains.

There are over a hundred distinct forms of cancer, and each one has a unique diagnosis and course of therapy. Cervical cancer is one of them.

Cervical cancer, which is generally avoidable, is the second most frequent malignancy in India and accounts for 25% of all cervical cancer fatalities worldwide. In India, more than 75,000 women lose their lives to cervical cancer each year, with 1.25 lakh women receiving a diagnosis. Compared to 70% globally, 83% of invasive cervical malignancies in India are linked to HPV 16 or 18.

As previously stated, vaccination against the human papillomavirus is the most effective means of preventing cervical cancer, according to Nirmala Sitharaman. Worldwide, HPV types 16 and 18 combined account for over 70% of occurrences of invasive cervical cancer.