Cervavac

Why in news?

• The Serum Institute of India (SII)’s Vaccine “Cervavac” has received the Drugs Controller General of India’s (DGCI) approval for market authorization.

About Cervavac:

• Cervavac is India’s first quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) vaccine.
• It is intended to protect women against cervical cancer.
• The vaccine is based on VLP (virus-like particles), similar to the hepatitis B vaccine and provides protection by generating antibodies against the HPV virus’s L1 protein.

Significance:

• The approval of this vaccine will allow the government to procure enough HPV vaccines at a special price to vaccinate nearly 50 million girls aged 9–14 years in India who are waiting to receive the vaccine.
• This will be a huge step to accelerate cervical cancer elimination in India and globally.

What is Cervical Cancer?

• Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix.
  • The lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.
• Various strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection, play a role in causing most cervical cancer.
• Cervical Cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer among women in the world.
• In India, Cervical cancer ranks as the second-most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age.

Other Facts related to Cervical Cancer:

• Cervical cancer is a common sexually transmitted infection. Long-lasting infection with certain types of HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer.
• Cervical cancer is preventable as long as it is detected early and managed effectively.
• Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer type and the second most common cause of cancer death in women of reproductive age (15–44).
• India accounts for about a fifth of the global burden of Cervical Cancer.
  • It kills one woman every eight minutes in the country.

Need to prevent HPV:

• Cervical cancer continues to be one of the only vaccine-preventable cancers.
• Almost all cervical cancers are found in women who have a history of HPV infection.
• So, the best way to prevent cervical cancer is to prevent an HPV Infection in the first place. And, that is what the HPV vaccines like Cervavac do.

Who should be given Cervavac vaccines?

• Since the virus is sexually transmitted, it has to be given to teenage girls before they are sexually active.
• Once an infection happens, the vaccine cannot clear it out. Hence, the effectiveness of the vaccine keeps dropping with age.
• For those who are past the age of HPV vaccination, regular screening is the best way to keep an eye out for whether they have cervical cancer.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements:

1. Cervical cancer is a common sexually transmitted infection

2. Cervical cancer is preventable by vaccination

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer