Cervical cancer as a threat, in the words of the World Health Organization (WHO), “is one of the greatest today to women’s health.” As a public health priority, cervical cancer elimination is much-needed – and research published last week in The Lancet outlines the contours of the roadmap towards this end over the next 100 […]
HPV
HPV vaccination saves lives. As we have been reminded again.
New research confirms again what public health experts have long asserted: vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) is an effective tool in reducing the spread of cervical cancer. For India, the news is important. Given the high death toll of cervical cancer in the country, and stalled efforts to roll out HPV vaccination, the finding […]
Urine test a new hope for cervical cancer detection?
There may be new hope in the fight against cervical cancer – a disease that accounts for seventeen percent of all cancer deaths in India – in the form of a urine test. Researchers from the University of Manchester, based in the UK, have found that a urine test could be as accurate as the […]
What the HPV vaccine could do for India – and why it hasn’t been done already
A disease which kills almost 300,000 women a year – including 67,500 women in India – could be all but eliminated by the end of the century if efforts are made to increase access to a lifesaving vaccine according to recent research published in The Lancet. The disease is cervical cancer. The vaccine is against […]
Cervical cancer kills 67,500 women every year. With the HPV vaccine, India can save them.
Experts recommend that girls be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) when they are aged eleven or twelve. If that window is missed, however, the vaccine can still be effective if they get a “catch-up” course when aged fourteen to twenty, US researchers suggest. This could give India pause for thought. The overwhelming majority of […]
HPV vaccine drive for girls in Sikkim
A scheme is underway to vaccinate girls in the northeast state of Sikkim against the human papillomavirus (HPV). The programme is expected to reach 32,000 girls aged nine to fourteen over the next fortnight. They will be administered the first dose of the HPV vaccine in the next two weeks. The second dose will be […]
Head and neck cancers kill in India: Tobacco to blame?
Most of the world’s head and neck cancer patients are from India, recent data suggests. Experts suggest that high rates of tobacco use, particularly among men, are behind the grim statistic that 57.5 percent of the world’s head and neck cancer patients reside in India. What’s worse, the number of cases in the country are […]
Controversy continues over HPV vaccine and cervical cancer
Controversy continues over the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine used to prevent cervical cancer in women. Reports suggest India’s health ministry will not include it under the country’s universal immunisation programme (UIP). Estimates suggest 1 in 53 women in India will develop cervical cancer in their lifetime. It is believed 423.2 million women aged fifteen and […]
Menstrual pads: A weapon against cervical cancer?
Menstrual pads could have a role to play in the fight against cervical cancer in India. A weapon against cervical cancer A study of rural women says analysing the blood on used menstrual pads could act as an effective screening tool for cervical cancer. The study was carried out by the Tata Memorial Hospital and […]