Chennai: Four months into India’s Swastha Nari HPV vaccination drive, Tamil Nadu has inoculated barely 65,000 of its 7.7 lakh target girls — using less than 12% of the 5.3 lakh doses sitting in cold storage across the state. The vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, which costs ₹3,500 in private clinics, is administered free. In Tamil Nadu, 8,534 new cases were recorded in 2023 alone, according to the state’s cancer registry.The Swastha Nari rollout stumbled first for reasons of timing. There were school board exams in March and April; then the summer holidays scattered the target group — girls aged 14. The elections in May also tied up the district-level administrative machinery that implements such drives.But health officials and experts say there are bigger problems. Union govt prohibits school-based vaccination. Instead, every girl must travel to a govt healthcare facility. Before the visit can even be scheduled, entries must be made on U-WIN — Union govt’s digital immunisation registry, modelled on the CoWIN platform used during Covid-19 — to verify consent through a one-time password sent to the parent’s mobile phone. “If we cannot get the OTP, we cannot vaccinate the girl. The Centre says parental digital consent is mandatory,” said a senior public health official. The system, designed for accountability, becomes a bottleneck in areas with poor connectivity or low digital literacy.Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist of the World Health Organization, said “The govt could allow parents to opt out, after reviewing the information provided, instead of requiring them to volunteer for the vaccine.” “States must send multimedia messages to the community, creating awareness about the programme and the benefits of vaccination against HPV. Cervical cancer vaccines are safe — the evidence is in the science,” she added.Tamil Nadu’s director of public health Dr A Somasundaram said the state has a solution. Tamil Nadu launched a pilot in four high-incidence districts — Dharmapuri, Perambalur, Tiruvannamalai and Ariyalur. The pilot targeted 27,196 girls aged 14 studying in govt and govt-aided schools, vaccinating them on campus. Within weeks, coverage reached 81%. “We have requested the Union Health Ministry to permit vaccination in schools,” Dr Somasundaram said.a
