Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India’s nationwide HPV vaccination programme on February 28, 2026, from Ajmer, Rajasthan, making free single-dose Gardasil-4 vaccines available to approximately 1.15 crore girls aged 14 years across all States and Union Territories. The move marks the most significant shift in India’s approach to cervical cancer in decades, from treating the disease after it strikes to stopping it before exposure.
The urgency behind the decision is written in sobering numbers. India records over 1.2 lakh new cervical cancer cases and nearly 80,000 deaths annually as per GLOBOCAN 2022 data, accounts for 25 per cent of global cervical cancer deaths, and ranks fourth worldwide in cervical cancer-related morbidity. One in every five women globally who develops cervical cancer is Indian- a statistic that makes the case for prevention impossible to ignore.
The 90-day drive will run daily to maximise reach, with girls who turn 15 within 90 days of the launch also eligible. Beyond the initial campaign, the vaccine will be available on routine immunisation days. Administered at Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, community health centres, district hospitals, and government medical colleges, appointments can be booked through the U-WIN digital platform, which has already registered over 143 million beneficiaries under India’s Universal Immunisation Programme. The government’s programme covers girls aged 9 to 14 years, with outreach specifically designed to extend into rural and underserved communities where awareness gaps and access barriers have historically been most acute.
Three vaccines are available under the initiative: Cervarix, Gardasil, and India’s indigenously developed CERVAVAC. The locally manufactured CERVAVAC follows a two-dose schedule for the 9–14 age group, a practical advantage for large-scale public health deployment. Gardasil-4 protects against HPV types 16 and 18, which account for more than 80 per cent of cervical cancer cases in India, and also against types 6 and 11, which commonly cause genital warts. All three vaccines have demonstrated high efficacy with minimal side effects; HPV vaccines globally are 93–100 per cent effective against the cancer types they cover, with over 500 million doses administered worldwide since 2006. India now joins over 160 countries that have incorporated HPV vaccination into their national immunisation schedules.
HPV infection underlies nearly 90 per cent of all cervical cancer cases and can additionally cause vulvar, vaginal, anal, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers, often manifesting years after high-risk exposure. Vaccination before potential exposure can prevent up to 90 per cent of cervical cancers, making the pre-adolescent window the most clinically effective point of intervention.
Dr Darshana Rane, Consultant Medical Oncology at HCG Cancer Centre, Borivali, called the announcement a turning point. “India’s recent announcement of a nationwide free HPV vaccination drive marks a pivotal shift from cancer treatment to prevention,” she said, noting it “could significantly reduce the country’s cervical cancer burden, which currently accounts for nearly one-fifth of global cases.” Dr Rane also raised a dimension that the current programme does not yet address the risk to boys. HPV infection places male adolescents at equal risk of acquiring and transmitting the virus, with consequences including penile, anal, and oropharyngeal cancers. Expanding outreach to include them, she said, would be critical to the initiative’s long-term effectiveness.
Vijayarathna Venkataraman, Chief Executive Officer of Motherhood Hospitals, echoed the broader significance. “Despite being largely preventable, cervical cancer continues to affect a significant number of women, often due to limited awareness and delayed intervention,” he said. “Introducing vaccination at an early age enables protection well before potential exposure to the virus, shifting the healthcare approach toward early risk reduction rather than late-stage treatment.” He was equally direct about where the programme could fall short, warning that success “will depend not only on vaccine availability but also on sustained awareness, parental confidence, and community-level education.”
That caution points to a structural gap that the vaccine alone cannot close. Only about 1.9 per cent of Indian women aged 30–49 have undergone cervical screening, a figure that illustrates how vaccination, without a parallel strengthening of screening infrastructure, will not on its own achieve elimination. The programme aligns with the WHO’s 90–70–90 targets for 2030- 90 per cent of girls vaccinated, 70 per cent of women screened, and 90 per cent of cases treated to bring incidence below the elimination threshold of four cases per one lakh women.
With 1.15 crore girls in the first cohort and the vaccine now embedded in the Universal Immunisation Programme for continuity, the government has laid the structural foundation. The harder work: sustaining coverage, closing the screening gap, and shifting community attitudes, begins now.
