A CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH: An HPV vaccination drive to prevent cancer was flagged off in Dibrugarh by Pratishruti Cancer and Palliative Trust along with the Indian Medical Association Dibrugarh and Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society of India, Assam, on March 6 at Dibrugarh IMA house. Following many vaccination drives in Guwahati, Dhemaji, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Diphu, Nalbari, Tezpur, Nagaon, Morigaon, and Tinsukia, the drive has been able to administer around 3000 vaccines till now. As per record, this is the largest HPV vaccination coverage by a non-profit organization in India in such a short period of time, claimed a press release. Pratishruti has been giving free vaccination to daughters whose mothers are affected by cervical cancer as well as selected economically-weaker other cancer-affected poor families.
India announced HPV vaccination for girls as a national priority in the 2024 Union Budget, with a phased, school-based rollout targeting 9 to 14-year-olds. This is critical as India accounts for nearly 20% of global cervical cancer cases and would need to vaccinate more than 68 million girls initially.
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