New Delhi

The government on Wednesday said indigenously developed HPV diagnostic kits for screening of cervical cancer were ready for roll out and will prove to be a cost-effective method for carrying out tests for the second most common cancer among Indian women.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh, at a meeting to share the findings of the validation of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) test kits, called for greater private sector participation for the roll out of a mass screening programme for cervical cancer.

According to the World Health Organization data, one out of every five women in the world suffering from cervical cancer is an Indian. Late diagnosis of the disease leads to poor survival, and 25 per cent of the global mortality due to cervical cancer occurs in India.

"Over 90 per cent of cervical cancer cases are linked to HPV, with over 70 per cent affecting young girls. It is our national responsibility to ensure affordable vaccines, screening and care," Singh said.

"The objective of this entire exercise is to have affordable, accessible screening and, if possible, mass screening, which is feasible only when you have large-scale private sector participation," he said at the review meeting.

The HPV test kits have been developed by the Department of Biotechnology, BIRAC, AIIMS-New Delhi, ICMR, as well as partners from the industry.

At the outset, the participants of the review meeting observed a two-minute silence to mourn the deaths in a terror attack at Pahalgam on Tuesday.

Cancer of the uterine cervix is the second most common cancer among Indian women and also constitutes the largest burden of cervical cancer patients in the world.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), through its partnership with Grand Challenges India (GCI) at the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), has supported a programme 'Validating Indigenous Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Tests for Cervical Cancer Screening in India'.

It validated indigenously developed, rapid, point-of-care, RT-PCR-based HPV diagnostic test kits for screening cervical cancer in premier R&D laboratories of India.

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Evidence suggests that early diagnosis with regular population screening programmes has substantially contributed to the reduction of the cancer incidence rate in several developing countries, an official statement said.

"The recent development of these point-of-care HPV diagnostic test kits may prove to be an important health invention and prevention strategy for cervical cancer in India," it said.