What can India learn from Rwanda to end cervical cancer?

Ankur ChhabraToronto, Canada

Dec 18, 2019

In 2010, Rwanda became the first African country to launch a national cervical cancer prevention program to vaccinate girls against the human papillomavirus virus (HPV).
Rwanda enlisted an army of educators—community health workers, nurses, teachers, and church leaders.
Now 93% of Rwandan girls get the shot.
Myth: HPV vaccine is linked with promiscuity.
FACT: No evidence that boys or girls who receive the vaccine have sex earlier than those who do not have the HPV vaccine.
RESULT of vaccine policy inaction in India: More than 67,000 women die from cervical cancer every year in India.
SOLUTION: Introduce HPV vaccine into India's routine immunization programme (UIP)

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