The centre is drawing up plans to vaccinate all school-going girls in the 9-14 age group against the Human Papilloma Virus in the first phase of the HPV vaccination drive, scheduled to begin in mid-2023 following a recommendation by the National Technical Advisory Group for Immunisation (NTAGI).

The vaccination drive will be a part of the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) with a one-time catch-up for 9-14-year-old girls fol¬lowed by a routine introduction at nine years.
In a letter to states jointly signed by the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar asked the states to issue appropriate directives to increase awareness among the people through school teachers to all parents during Special Parents-Teachers meetings in the coming days.
Pointing out that in India, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women, contributing to the largest proportion of the global cervical cancer burden, the letter emphasised the necessity to make the campaign successful.
“Most cervical cancers are associated with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and the HPV vaccine can prevent most cases of cervical cancer if it is given before girls or women are exposed to the virus,” the letter added.
“Prevention through vaccination is one of the pillars of the global strategy adopted by the World Health Organisation for the elimination of cervical cancer,” it further added.
It requested the states to issue appropriate directions to District Education Officer to support District Immunisation Officer and be part of the efforts of the District Task Force on Immunisation (DTFI) under the District Magistrate, along with identifying a nodal person in each school to coordinate vaccination activities and collate the number of 9-14 years of girls in the school and bulk upload the same in U-WIN app to facilitate vaccination programme.
The letter further asked the states to provide support in generating an up-to-date list of all types of schools (UDISE+) in each block for micro-planning and access to GlS mapping.
It may be recalled that India's first indigenously developed vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, CERVAVAC, is expected to cost between 200-400 a shot in Indian Rupee. 
According to World Health Organisation, 4.1 million women in India have died from the disease since 2019, and with¬out intervention, as many as 5.7 million will die by 2070, authors of a recent editorial in the journal, Lancet Oncology noted.
Although HPV vaccines have been avail¬able in the country since 2008, attempts to establish a national vaccination programme have stalled, mainly due to unfounded worries about side-effects, as well as affordability concerns.