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More than 80 lakh (8 million) doses of HPV vaccine have been administered under the National HPV Vaccination Campaign since its launch in February 2026.
The campaign gives 14-year-old girls a free, voluntary, single-dose HPV vaccination with parental consent at government health facilities.
Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram have covered 100 per cent of their identified target cohorts; Uttar Pradesh has vaccinated the most girls, over 22 lakh.
Coverage is tracked district-wise on the U-WIN digital immunisation platform, and sessions run under trained Medical Officers with 24x7 links for rare AEFI management.
The annual cohort of 14-year-old girls is about 1.2 crore, as per Registrar General of India 2021 estimates.
HPV is a very common sexually transmitted virus. Most infections clear on their own, but persistent infection with high-risk types damages cervical cells over years and causes cancer. Types 16 and 18 alone account for roughly 70 per cent of cervical cancers worldwide.
Simple Analogy: The vaccine is a lock fitted before the door is ever used — it prevents infection, it does not cure one.
Prevent cervical cancer by vaccinating adolescent girls before exposure
Key: Launched February 2026 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; single-dose, free, voluntary, for 14-year-old girls at government facilities; now past 80 lakh doses
Free routine immunisation for children and pregnant women
Key: Launched in 1985; one of the world's largest public health programmes; covers 12 vaccine-preventable diseases; the delivery backbone the HPV campaign rides on
Digitise every vaccination given under the UIP
Key: A name-based electronic registry built for anywhere-access, anytime vaccination; nationwide rollout completed in 2024; used here for district-level coverage monitoring and tracing missed beneficiaries
Comprehensive primary healthcare at the community level
Key: Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres were renamed Ayushman Arogya Mandir in November 2023 with the tagline 'Arogyam Paramam Dhanam'; they form the frontline of preventive services including immunisation outreach
Coordinates the National Cancer Registry Programme, which supplies India's cancer incidence and mortality estimates; NCRP data collection began on 1 January 1982 with registries at Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai
Author of the Global Strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer — adopted by the World Health Assembly in August 2020 and launched on 17 November 2020, setting the 90-70-90 targets for 2030
Maker of CERVAVAC, India's first indigenously developed quadrivalent HPV vaccine against types 6, 11, 16 and 18, developed with the Department of Biotechnology; DCGI market authorisation granted in July 2022
Adverse Event Following Immunization is any untoward medical occurrence after a vaccine, not necessarily caused by it — the campaign links every session site to 24x7 care so rare events are assessed and managed.
The campaign's single-dose design differs from the licensed two-dose (9-14 years) and three-dose (15-26 years) schedules used for quadrivalent HPV vaccines, and is what makes a 1.2-crore annual cohort logistically reachable.
ASHAs, ANMs, teachers, paediatricians, gynaecologists and AIIMS experts were used for mobilisation and to counter misinformation — the same network the UIP relies on.
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Issues Relating to Development and Management of Health
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Health Programmes
General Awareness > Current Affairs and Science
A common sexually transmitted virus; persistent infection with high-risk types 16 and 18 causes about 70 per cent of cervical cancers.
Adverse Event Following Immunization — any untoward medical occurrence after vaccination, which need not have a causal link to the vaccine.
The name-based digital registry that records every Universal Immunisation Programme vaccination and enables anytime, anywhere vaccination.
WHO's 2030 targets — 90 per cent of girls vaccinated by 15, 70 per cent of women screened twice with a high-performance test, 90 per cent of those with disease treated.