HPV vaccine

One Dose of HPV Vaccine Helps Prevent Cervical Cancer: Indian Study

The Union government has denied reports that the HPV vaccine has been made a part of the government’s routine immunisation programme.

New Delhi: Even though the Union government has dismissed reports that the single-dose human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination against cervical cancer would be included in the routine immunisation programme, a new study conducted at hospitals across India has pointed out that one dose of the vaccine can prevent the disease.

HPV is a sexually-transmitted infection that is responsible for almost all cases of cervical cancer.

The study was conducted on 2,135 women over 10 years, divided into groups who received one, two or three doses of HPV vaccines between the ages of 10 and 18.

“The study, conducted at hospitals across India, found that 10 years after vaccination, a high proportion of single- dose recipients still had antibody titers against HPV types 16 and 18 with the proportion being slightly higher among 10-14-year-olds than those aged 15-18,” Livemint reported, quoting the study published in the journal Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics.

Early this year, there were reports in the media saying that the HPV vaccine was to be included in the Indian government’s vaccine programme, targeting girls aged 9-14. However, the Press Information Bureau has since clarified that no such decision has been taken yet. “The Union Health Ministry is yet to take a decision on the roll out of HPV vaccination in the country. It is closely monitoring the incidences of cervical cancer cases in the country and is in regular touch with states and various health departments regarding this,” PIB stated.

The new research, Livemint reports, was carried out “to study the long-term antibody response after a single dose of the HPV vaccine”.

“The study showed that a single dose jab with a catch-up extended to age 20 will have more significant impact in reducing the lifetime risk of cervical cancer and accelerating elimination of the disease than administering two doses to pre-adolescent girls.”

Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent form of cancer among Indian women, after breast cancer. Across the world, the HPV vaccine has been recognised as an important preventive measure. The World Health Organisation has recommended that girls aged between 9 and 14 should be given one or two HPV doses. A recent study in Scotland found that there were no cases of cervical cancer among women who received the full HPV immunisation, BBC reported.

Vaccines Have Always Encountered Resistance Before Wide Acceptance

Nationalism, ‘self-reliance’ and fear of foreign ‘machinations’ have added a new element to the resistance against vaccines.

This article has been withdrawn by the editors because it drew heavily on three previously published works, “The History of Vaccines“, a website run by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, “A Brief History of Vaccines and Vaccination in India” by Chandrakant Lahariya [Indian Journal of Medical Research (April 2014)] and “‘Free’ Vaccines Aren’t Free Of The Foreign Hand” without acknowledging and attributing them in any way.

HPV Vaccine Has Significantly Cut Rate of Infections That Cause Cervical Cancer

Each year, more than 310,000 women die from cervical cancer, the vast majority of them in poorer countries where HPV immunisation coverage is low or non-existent.

London: Vaccination against the virus that causes almost all cervical cancer is having a major impact on stopping infections and should significantly reduce cases of the disease within a decade, researchers said on Wednesday.

Presenting results of an international analysis covering 60 million people in high-income countries, scientists from Britain and Canada said they found “strong evidence” that vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) works “to prevent cervical cancer in real–world settings”.

“We’re seeing everything that we’d want to see. We’re seeing reductions in the key HPV infections that cause most cervical disease, and we’re seeing reductions in cervical disease,” said David Mesher, principal scientist at Public Health England, who worked on the research team.

Also read: Vaccines Make Adults, but Many Adults Still Deny the Science Around It

Marc Brisson, a specialist in infectious disease health economics at Canada’s Laval University who co-led the study, said the results suggested, “we should be seeing substantial reductions in cervical cancer in the next 10 years.”

HPV vaccines were first licensed in 2007 and have since then been adopted in at least 100 countries worldwide. Britain’s GSK makes an HPV vaccine called Cervarix, which targets two strains of the virus, while Merck makes a rival shot, Gardasil, which targets nine strains.

In countries with HPV immunisation programmes, the vaccines are usually offered to girls before they become sexually active to protect against cervical and other HPV-related cancers.

Brisson’s team gathered data on 60 million people over eight years from 65 separate studies conducted in 14 countries and pooled it to assess the vaccines‘ impact.

Also read: Rwanda on Track to Become the First Country to Eliminate Cervical Cancer

They found that the two HPV types that cause 70% of cervical cancers – known as HPV 16 and HPV 18 – were significantly reduced after vaccination, with an 83% decline in infections in girls aged 13 to 19 and 66% drop in women aged 20 to 24 after five to eight years of vaccination.

Figures released in February by the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer showed an estimated 570,000 new cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed worldwide in 2018, making it the fourth most common cancer in women globally.

Each year, more than 310,000 women die from cervical cancer, the vast majority of them in poorer countries where HPV immunisation coverage is low or non-existent.

Brisson urged governments in the most-affected countries to take note: “Our results show the vaccines are working – so I hope in the upcoming years we will …see rates of HPV vaccination increase in countries that need it most,” he said.

(Reuters)

Public Health Campaigns Shouldn’t Diminish the Importance of HPV Vaccines

It’s strange the HPV vaccine continues to be undervalued despite its clear public health benefits.

HPV vaccines in Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 2014. Credit: pahowho/Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0

At the end of February, an oncology conference was held in honour of the platinum jubilee of the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai. At this conference, leading Indian oncologists argued with leading health authorities from other parts of the world that India does not need a structured human papillomavirus (HPV) screening or vaccination program as rates of cervical cancer in India have declined with the implementation of basic sanitary and hygiene awareness campaigns. This statement should make your jaw drop.

One of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world, the HPV has many different strains, the deadliest of which can cause cancer. And the HPV vaccine is one of the few medical therapies in the world that we know actually prevents cancer – specifically, cervical cancer. Despite being easily preventable with this simple vaccine series, cervical cancer continues to plague women across the world, with World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates placing the number of deaths due to cervical cancer at 270,000 annually. Roughly 65 countries worldwide have introduced the HPV vaccine, but most of these countries are developed countries, while the burden of HPV is usually worst in developing countries. In India, specifically, the most recent estimates show that over 120,000 Indian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year and over half of these women die from cervical cancer. With India’s cervical cancer deaths accounting for a quarter of the world’s cervical cancer deaths, how can any medical professionals argue against screening and vaccination for the number one risk factor for cervical cancer?

The discussions at this conference are particularly disheartening in light of the fact that other outlets seemed to be encouraging both HPV screening and vaccination in a push to improve women’s health in India. To argue against a cancer vaccine that we know has the ability to save countless lives is ridiculous. Particularly in light of very recent evidence showing the decreased prevalence of HPV in the United States after implementation of a vaccination program. No amount of public health campaigns advocating improved hygiene practices should ever diminish the importance of an HPV vaccination campaign and for medical physicians to even suggest such a thing is abhorrent. In the past one of the biggest hurdles for the HPV vaccine in India has been the associated financial burden, however, given reports of a $500 million grant given to the government for vaccine implementation, there really is no better time than now to emphasise the importance and impact of both HPV screening and vaccination.

The HPV vaccine has been plagued with unfortunate rumour after unfortunate rumour ever since it was released. From false arguments that it led to increased sexual activity to headlines blaming the vaccine for debilitating side effects – the vaccine seems to have got more negative press than anything else despite the obvious preventive health benefits of this vaccine. Add to the fear-mongering these misplaced arguments by medical experts and the HPV vaccine continues to be undervalued despite its clear public health benefits.

Everything in medicine is a balance of risk versus benefit. However, patient well-being and safety are always at the forefront of healthcare. From both a public health perspective and a medical perspective, the importance of the HPV vaccine cannot be overstated. So, in honour of the recently celebrated International Women’s Day, let’s take a step forward for women’s healthcare in India instead of taking several backwards.

Farah Naz Khan is a doctor, writer and Bollywood aficionado. Find her on Twitter or on her website.