Primary and secondary prevention of cervical cancer in Indian women using a public private participation approach: results of a pilot program

Background: Cervical cancer is a high incidence cancer in India, although it is a preventable cancer.We proposed a public private participation (PPP) strategy between Private/Corporate Organizations and Non-governmental organizations for HPV vaccination and screening of cervical cancers. Methods:The pilot project was conducted in Maharashtra State, India.The Private/Corporate Organizations with a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Cell/ Committee were identified for the project.The HPV vaccination camp sites and schools were identified and confirmed.The bivalent HPV vaccine -Cervarix, was administered in two doses in the deltoid muscle, to socio-economically under privileged school girls, aged 11-15 years, from seven villages in Maharashtra.The cervical cancer screening camp sites were identified, post identification and confirmation of the screening camps, HR-HPV was assayed in 8286 of 9353 recruited women.The women were 30-65 years old and residents of rural villages and urban slums in the state.HPV DNA PCR using the MY09 and MY11 primers, followed by nucleotide sequencing using Big Dye terminator kit and Genetic Analyzer ABI 3130XL system in HPV positive samples, or the Hybrid Capture 2 assay, were the methods of choice to detect HR-HPVs in the cervical smears.Results: We administered 4008 total doses of the bivalent HPV vaccine in the school girls, and 82-100% compliance for the second dose of the vaccine was recorded.Mild adverse reactions included headache, weakness or fainting in 1-2% of the school girls.The HPV DNA PCR assay with nucleotide sequencing and Hybrid Capture 2 assay demonstrated an average of 4.1% women were positive for HR-HPV with HPV16 being the most common infection.Conclusions: Our study demonstrated the feasibility of the Public Private Participation approach with collaboration between Non-governmental organizations and corporate organizations, for prevention and control of cervical cancer.