Telangana crosses 60% HPV vaccination coverage

HYDERABAD: Telangana has crossed 60% coverage of its identified target population under the National HPV Vaccination Campaign, even as India surpassed the milestone of administering 80 lakh doses of the vaccine to adolescent girls since the programme was launched in February this year.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the national campaign provides free and voluntary single-dose HPV vaccination to 14-year-old girls with parental consent at government health facilities. According to 2021 estimates by the Registrar General of India, about 1.2 crore girls form the annual cohort of 14-year-olds expected to benefit from the initiative.

Data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare shows that Telangana is among the states to cross the 60% coverage mark, along with Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Kerala and Odisha.

Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram have achieved 100% coverage of their identified target groups.

Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Assam have crossed 90% coverage, while Karnataka has achieved more than 85% . Uttar Pradesh has recorded the highest number of vaccinations, with more than 22 lakh adolescent girls receiving the vaccine.

The Ministry of Health attributed the progress to coordinated implementation by states and Union Territories, community mobilisation and the involvement of district-level health teams, along with parents, teachers, healthcare professionals and frontline workers.

All vaccination sessions are being conducted under the supervision of trained medical officers. Government health facilities have also been linked to 24×7 healthcare services to ensure timely assessment and management of rare adverse events after immunisation.

With the campaign entering its final phase, the focus will be on reaching the remaining eligible beneficiaries and ensuring that no eligible girl is left out, as India seeks to strengthen long-term prevention of cervical cancer.