HPV Vaccination to Protect Generations Against Cervical Cancer – India Prepares

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health – India Research Center, Cancer Foundation of India’s Beat Cervical Cancer network, Healthy India Alliance, and the PREVENT Global HPV Cancers program hosted a webinar “HPV Vaccination to Protect Generations Against Cervical Cancer – India Prepares,” in observance of the 4^th WHO Day of Action for Cervical Cancer Elimination (officially on November 17) on November 14, 2024.

This session explored India’s comprehensive HPV vaccination efforts and the Government’s plans for nationwide rollout.

Key presentations included Dr. Devasena Anantharaman’s insights from IARC-WHO’s 15-year HPV vaccine safety study, Ms. Emily Kobayashi’s update on GAVI’s support, and Dr. Anu Agrawal’s focus on behavioral research and empowering India’s medical societies. Prof K. Viswanath, PhD, Lee Kum Kee Professor of Health Communication at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health discussed strategies for HPV awareness, while Dr. Priya Ganeshkumar of FOGSI shared their work and future plans with the Indian medical societies. 

Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh outlined his vision for “Cervical Cancer Mukt” districts, Dr. C. S. Pramesh presented the role of the National Cancer Grid, and Ms. Sutapa Biswas, Beat Cervical Cancer – BCC Convenor, introduced India’s newly launched network of civil society organizations.

This webinar was moderated by Ms. Mridu Gupta of CAPED India and Dr Vandana Dhamankar of the Indian Cancer Society. It concluded with a dynamic Q&A session with all panelists and HPV vaccine experts of BCC- Dr Smita Joshi and Dr. Latha Balasubramaniam. 

This event gathered Indian and global experts committed to eliminating cervical cancer in India.