26/02/2026
India’s move to roll out HPV vaccination for 14-year-old girls is a landmark public health decision.
Cervical cancer remains one of the commonest cancers in Indian women, causing ~80,000 new cases and ~35,000 deaths annually. Prevention is far better than late detection.
Globally, over 15 years of data and hundreds of millions of doses have shown HPV vaccines to be safe and highly effective. Post-marketing surveillance systems across countries consistently confirm an excellent safety profile.
Sweden & Scotland has provided some of the most compelling evidence — among vaccinated women, invasive cervical cancer risk dropped by nearly 90%, and the country is on track to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem.
That is what science-based prevention looks like.
At our clinic, we routinely vaccinate adolescents and adults with Gardasil. I have taken the vaccine myself. It is safe. It is effective. It prevents cancer — in women and in men.
India should move forward with confidence — with transparent surveillance, strong AEFI monitoring, and informed consent — but not with fear-mongering.
Cancer prevention is not coercion. It is progress.