Govt to include HPV screening in its cancer surveillance mission?

IN INDIA, CERVICAL CANCER IS THE SECOND MOST COMMON FORM OF CANCER AMONG WOMEN AFTER BREAST CANCER

NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry is likely to incorporate HPV (human papillomavirus) testing into the National Cancer Control Programme to screen women for cervical cancer, people familiar with the matter said.

As part of the programme, the government is stepping up efforts to test and validate indigenously developed, low-cost and point of care HPV tests to detect the cancer causing HPV genotypes in the Indian population, the people cited above said.

Globally, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, claiming a life every two minutes, according to Indian government estimates.

In India, the numbers are far higher, with cervical cancer being the second most form of cancer among women after breast cancer. It contributes to one-fifth of the global burden.

An estimated 663,301 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer worldwide and about 348,874 women died from the disease in 2022.

Low-middle income countries (LMIC), like India, contributed to nearly 80% of the disease burden, the estimates show. In India, there are approximately 127,526 new cases every year, with 79,906 deaths.