About cervical cancer in India
In India, cancer of the cervix uteri is the 3rd most common cancer with an Incidence rate of 18.3% (123,907 cases) and the second leading cause of death with a mortality rate of 9.1% as per GLOBOCAN 2020. The Age standardized incidence rate per 100 000 population was 18 while the 5 year prevalence rate across all ages was 42.82 per 1 lakh population. As per the National Cancer Registry Programme, cancer of breast and cervix uteri was the most common cancers among females. Cervical cancer accounted for 6-29% of all cancers among women in India. Papumpare district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India had the highest incidence rate of cervical cancer (27.7) in Asia. The majority of the patients with cancer were diagnosed at the locally advanced stage for breast (57.0%), cervix uteri (60.0%), head and neck (66.6%), and stomach (50.8%) cancer, whereas in lung cancer, distant metastasis was predominant among males (44.0%) and females (47.6%).
Healthcare governance in India
Health is primarily a State Responsibility as per the Constitution of India. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India is the Central Governing body that looks after the Health sector in the country. Apart from the State and Central Governments, there are various other Private sector institutes, NGOs, CBOs, philanthropic organisations etc who are also actively involved in various healthcare activities providing preventive, promotive and curative services to the people.
National health policy
The National health Policy of India which was first drawn up in 1983 and subsequently revised in 2002 and 2017 provides the overall guidelines for the health sector in the country. Its primary aim is to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritize the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions- investments in health, organization of healthcare services, prevention of diseases and promotion of good health.
National cancer registry program
Cancer registry is an organization of systematic collection, storage, analysis, interpretation and reporting of data on patients with cancer (IARC). A proper analysis and interpretation of data provides insights with inputs for its prevention, control and management.
Cervical cancer policy/strategy
At present, there does not appear to be a single comprehensive cervical cancer program at the national level in India. Some provisions for cervical cancer prevention and treatment are included within the documents related to the aforementioned policies and strategies.
Cervical cancer screening policy/strategy
There is no comprehensive national screening program in India at present. A lifetime screening prevalence of 29.8% among women aged 30-49 has been reported from a nationally representative survey. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has 4 recommended the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) screening method for women aged 30-65 with a 5-year interval since 2016 as per the operational framework.
HPV immunization policy/strategy
Although there is no national human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization program in India, there are several efforts, including one state- wide program in Sikkim, another program in two districts of Punjab and an opportunistic program based in Delhi.
Services provided by the consortium members
Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE): MAHE has applied research efforts with an emphasis on interdisciplinary research and engagement with the wider research community. MAHE has relevant infrastructure required for the project, including an HPV testing facility (Roche-COBAS), VIA-AI and a cryocautery unit. The MAHE team has designed the ECO-Easy Cervical Optimiser device for cancer cervix screening by VIA-AI, which will be used for PRESCRIP-TEC project.
St. John’s Medical College, a unit of CBCI Society of Medical Education Bengaluru: The department is actively involved in preventive oncology work. Its role is to perform screening and field research handling gynaecological malignancies by radiation therapy and palliative care for management of cancer pain and terminal care.
Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Educational Society Ujire, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: The Department has organised free rural breast and cervical cancer screening camps and has established good rapport with the general public and NGOs to ensure better communication and outreach. Within PRESCRIP-TEC, the Department will perform screening and field research in cervical cancer.
Tata Medical Centre: is a private cancer care centre, established in May 2011 and committed to delivering comprehensive cancer care, including prevention, diagnosis and treatment, rehabilitation and palliation, and research. The activities of the Centre within the PRESCRIP -TEC project will be coordinated by the preventive oncology unit after the formation of a core team.
Some of our activities in India
Cervical Cancer Screening Awareness Programme in Innanje village, Udupi district
Impact areas where we are working
| Epidemiology Summary | Country data | |||
| Population (million) | 1360 | |||
| Female population aged 20-29 (million) | 137.8 | |||
| Female population aged 30-59 (million) | 230.5 | |||
| HPV prevalence (%) | 2.3% – 36.9% | |||
| Cervical cancer incidence rate (crude, per 100 000) | 18.7 | |||
| Cervical cancer incidence rate (age-standardized, per 100 000) | 18.0 | |||
| Cervical cancer mortality (crude, per 100 000) | 11.7 | |||
| Cervical cancer mortality (age- standardized, per 100 000) | 11.4 | |||
| Available/recommended method of screening | VIA | |||
| Type of screening | Opportunistic | |||
| Is there a national strategy/program dedicated to cancer? | Yes – National Cancer Cancer Control Programme + separate program for NCDs | |||
| Is there a national strategy/program dedicated to cervical cancer? | Yes 2017-2022 | |||
| Target age group in the project (years) | 35-55 | |||
News from India
Working together to bring cervical screening where it is needed most
The PRESCRIP-TEC team, representatives from the Female Cancer Foundation, Friendship, and the Uganda Rural Development Programme. The PRESCRIP-TEC Project is…
WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative: from call to action to global movement
Read about how WHO's cervical cancer elimination initiative grew from a call to action to a global movement. Download the…
Voices from the field: Reaching out to Bangalore’s women in sex work, to prevent cervical cancer
The different realities of women’s lives can immensely impact their access to education, employment and health care. Recognizing these realities…
The PRESCRIP-TEC consortium met for the first time in person
The PRESCRIP-TEC consortium met for the first time in person in Groningen on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 March. The…
PRESCRIP-TEC wins award in Knowledge sharing competition at GACD conference
The Prevention and Screening Innovation Project towards Elimination of Cervical Cancer (PRESCRIP-TEC) won the Community Choice award in the Knowledge…
Strengthening PRESCRIP-TEC communication between teams in India
A Connaxis communications team visited Manipal, and Bengaluru to gain first-hand insight into the context in which the PRESCRIP-TEC project…
Cervical cancer elimination eay of ection: PRESCRIP-TEC joins the Movement!
Cervical cancer could be the world's first cancer eliminated ever if we follow the Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative of the…
The implementation of the WHO’s “Global Strategy Towards the Elimination of Cervical Cancer as a Public Health Problem” in the Netherlands and the Republic of India
The Netherlands and The Republic of India show substantial differences in aspects such as access to and structure of, healthcare…
PRESCRIP-TEC aligns with EU cancer screening recommendations
The EU released a scientific opinion providing recommendations on how to improve existing cancer screening programmes, including for cervical cancer.
HPV prevention is vital to end cervical cancer
HPV awareness day is a campaign focused on HPV prevention – the first step to end cervical cancer as a…
Cervical Cancer Screening Awareness Programme in Innanje village, Udupi district (India)
A successful Cervical Cancer Awareness Programme and screening camp was held in Innanje to promote the elimination of cervical cancer…
One year of the Cervical Cancer Elimination movement. What is PRESCRIP-TEC doing?
On 17th November 2021 we are celebrating the Cervical Cancer Elimination movement. Know what PRESCRIP-TEC is doing.
PRESCRIP-TEC Nominated for Computable Awards 2021 in the Care Project Category
Cervical cancer is a leading cause of death among women in resource-poor or hard-to-reach settings in the world, especially sub-Saharan…
Towards elimination of cervical cancer
Jaap Koot, coordinator of PRESCRIP-TEC, talked about cervical cancer at the International Student Congress of (bio)Medical Sciences (ISCOMS)
New WHO recomendations for screening and treatment of cervical cancer.
In order to reach the 2030 targets for cervical cancer elimination, the World Health Organization is launching two new products:…
