UPSC EDITORIAL ANALYSIS: Indigenous HPV vaccine,

Source: This Hindu

• Entry exams: Current events of national importance, cervical cancer, government policy, universal vaccination program, human papillomavirus (HPV), Cervavac e.t.c
• GS Networks Exam Paper II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and problems arising from their design and implementation, etc.

MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THE ARTICLE

• Population-Based Cancer Registries (PBCR) India and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)I confirmed downward trends With Cervical cancer prevalence in India and the world.
• March 4 is observed as International HPV Awareness Day.

CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE PROBLEM

Context

Cervical cancer:

Cervical cancer

• It is the second most common cancer among women in India, it mainly affects middle-aged women.
• With 1,23,907 new cases and 77,348 deaths In 2022, India contributed to one fifth of the global
• Main reason:Presence of chronic high-risk type Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection
  • coefficients such as low socio-economic conditions, low immune status, other genital infections, smoking etc., which facilitate the onset and development of cancer.
• Cervical cancer is preventable and curable if detected early.
• Most cases of cervical cancer and pre-cancer cases can be detected in the reproductive age group.
• Cervical cancer he has debts pre-invasive phase it lasts 10–15 years.
  • This gives you a chance detection and treatment of cancer in the pre-invasive stage
• Detection and treatment of cervical cancer At an early stage it was found that he had more than 93 percent cure rate.
• Cervical cancerThis can be prevented by Vaccination of girls against HPV virus.
• It is the fourth most common cancer amongwomen around the world
• Cervical cancer claims the lives of over 3,00,000 people women every year, or one life every two minutes.
• Nine out of ten women die from cervical cancerlive in low- and middle-income countries.

Impact of an overzealous push for “universal” HPV vaccination of girls:

• Selective vaccination of high-risk groups, considering sexual transmission, as opposed to airborne, waterborne and infectious diseases.
• This vaccine is intended for pre-pubertal girls.that teenage girls engaging in promiscuous sexual relations and becoming carriers of the virus constitute a huge risk factor for the entire adult population.

Vaccine production path in India and globally:

● Serum Institute of India (SII) has developed “Cervavac” and promoted it as a domestic and inexpensive vaccine.

● Cervavac uses similar techniques, implementing virus-like particles (VLPs) manufactured using recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) techniques for generating an immune response against HPV infections.

● Cervical cancer vaccine is only the second one rDNA vaccine in the world, using techniques from the early 1970s.

○ First of all, the vaccine against Hepatitis B.

● Before the development of rDNA methods,the production of accine was

○ a charitable or public sector enterprise where strains/techniques are made available to the public

● Amendments to the US Patent Act in the 1980s allowing patenting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) AND Life processes.

● Bayh-Dole Act legalizes the establishment of companies by scientists financed from public funds.

● Globalization of US Patent Laws By World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Since 1995, vaccine development and innovation have changed drastically.

● Legalization of conversion of public “research” for private “development” and its monopolization through patenting.

○ The development and production of the vaccine were supported by policies of liberalization and globalization.

Impact on India:

● Indian Patents Act (1970) patenting of products was abolished and only processes were allowed, excluding agricultural AND biological patents.

○ This enabled the development of the domestic industry.to become the world’s pharmacy within two decades.

● India produced cheap generic drugs and vaccines, often within a few years of their introduction to the Global North.

● First Indian-made rDNA hepatitis B vaccine entered the market within five years on the strength of a process patent and brought the price down to an order of magnitude lower than in countries of the global north.

● Under the current product patent system, a locally produced DNA vaccine Cervical cancer vaccines had to wait two decades for product patents to expire before a homegrown, “generic” version became available.

○ Expiration of key HPV vaccine patentsas WHO recently reported.

● Before the introduction of a domestically produced vaccine,two known international vaccines (Gardasil and Cervarix) were sold in India for ₹4,000 per dose.

Reasons for Inexpensive Vaccine Development in India:

● The Indian industry is well-equipped with infrastructure to do rDNA products on a large scale, especially vaccines.

● The development of Cervavac was heavily subsidized, which contained nearly $7 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) under his Grand Challenges Fund.

● The infrastructure used for Cervavac production inas part of the Covishield vaccine manufacturing facility, built with significant support from Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

● Sharing resources allows for reductiond. actual input costs to enable more affordable pricing, which raises questions about SII’s pricing strategy.

HPV vaccine:(Cervavac)

• It is a quadrivalent vaccine, developed by Serum Institute of India.
• Prevents the four most common types from entering With HPV viruses 16, 18, 6 and 11thus preventing infections, genital warts and ultimately cancer.
• It will be used in the government campaign.
• The vaccine must be administered IN adolescent girls before they engage in sexual activity.

The way forward.

• Lack of availability of other competitive vaccines from domestic players, put downward pressure on the current price Cervavac.
• Cervavac vaccine is currently recommended universally as part of the government vaccination program for girls aged 9-26 at a price of ₹500 for two doses, which is expensive even for the government.
• For those who are not covered by the government program, Cervavac retail price to quadruple ₹2000 domestically where there is low insurance penetration and disastrously high healthcare expenditure.
• The need for universal HPV vaccinations cervical cancer prevention remains an unresolved question, lack of competition and opaque pricing justify investigation in the broader public interest.
• This safe and effective vaccine can help prevent six HPV cancers.
  • Five of them occur in women: the vulva, anus, vagina, throat, and cervix.
• Doctors are the most respected leaders in society.nd trusted source of health related information. Their leadership is needed to eliminate cervical cancer in India.

QUESTION FOR PRACTICE

1. A critical appraisal of WHO’s role in ensuring global health security during the COVID-19 pandemic. (UPSC 2020)

Editorial Analysis – July 9, 2024 (PDF)