BENGALURU: Karnataka will collaborate with the healthcare stakeholders, including the private sector, to create awareness about cervical cancer and push for vaccination programme, to stop preventable deaths, said Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao. He was delivering the inaugural address at the National Summit on Cervical Cancer organised together by ECHO India, the Karnataka Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society, ARTIST for HER, and the Healthcare Sector Skill Council (HSSC), on Saturday. The event brought together policymakers and healthcare experts, to chart a path forward against the disease.
Rao responded to a plea by renowned healthcare leader Dr Hema Divakar, FIGO Division Director; and Chair, Well Woman Healthcare Committee, who emphasized the need to accelerate action to eliminate the disease affecting women through a robust vaccination programme backed by technological support.
“I am open to a public-private-participation (PPP) model to ensure the government’s health schemes benefit women. We are waiting for the allocation of funds from the Union government, to make the vaccine affordable, and launch a vaccination drive,” Rao added.
Dr Hema pointed out that India accounted for 25 per cent of the global cervical cancer cases, and there is a need to accelerate action to eliminate the disease. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. The highest rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality are seen in low-and-middle-income countries, reflecting on lack of access to national HPV vaccination and treatment services, she said.
“It is unfortunate that India records 75,000 deaths annually (against 300 deaths in developed nations) due to cervical cancer, and it can be prevented,” stressed Dr Hema, who heads the Asian Research & Training Institute for Skill Transfer (ARTIST).
ARTIST is partnering with the Karnataka State Obstetrics & Gynaecology Association, HSSC, ECHO India, and other healthcare champions to advance this movement.