"Up to 93% of cervical cancers are preventable by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccines,” noted medical professional and president of the Surat Parsi Panchayat (SPP), Dr Homi Doodhwala.
Giving details of a drive against this cancer organized by the SPP jointly with the Zoroastrian Women’s Assembly of Surat (ZWAS), he noted this disease is associated with poor genital hygiene, early age of marriage, multiple sexual partners and repeated pregnancies. "In India, early age at first intercourse and multiple pregnancies raise the risk of cancer.” Contracting HPV is the major cause of cervical cancer. However, "The younger the age, the more effective the outcome, so this vaccine is recommended from age nine to 26 years for maximum efficacy, after which the percentage decreases,” noted the medical practitioner. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, states the World Health Organisation. Of the 5,70,000 women diagnosed with cancer in 2018, 3,11,000 or 55% died from the ailment. According to a study by the reputed medical journal Lancet, "India accounts for the highest number of cervical cancer cases in Asia, followed by China. Of the 6,04,127 new cases of cervical cancer, India reported around 21% of the total.
Surat’s vaccination drive to prevent cervical cancer
The vaccines were provided free of cost to women in the diamond city on May 4, 2023. Eighty-three girls and women in the age group of 10-45 received the first dose at the Seth R. D. Tarachand Parsi General Hospital managed by the SPP. According to the city directory published by ZWAS in 2019, women in the age group 10-49 numbered 847 (see "Surat population down five percent,” Parsiana, October 21-November 7, 2019). Some members of ZWAS offered their services as volunteers to help the nurses of the Hospital.
Thirty-three female members up to the age of 26 were given the Serum Institute of India manufactured quadrivalent Cervavac vaccine and 57 women aged 27 and upwards were given Merck and Company’s quadrivalent Gardasil. A second dose will be administered after two months and the third after six as per the medical requirement, again free of cost. Each vaccination costs about Rs 3,000 per dose, noted the SPP president.
Doodhwala served the municipal corporation of Surat for 38 years before retiring. He is the erstwhile medical superintendent and director for medical education and research, and professor of surgery at the Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research.
The president, his wife Persis, SPP trustee Yazdi Karanjia and his daughter Maharukh Chichgar, trustee of ZWAS, were present at the vaccination camp.