HPV vaccines for girls in Kalyana Karnataka from this year: Min

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao announced on Saturday that, starting this year, girls aged 14 in the Kalyana Karnataka region will receive Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines at no charge. This initiative is part of the state government's efforts to combat cervical cancer. Inaugurating a free health camp at Manvi in Raichur, the minister emphasised the need for significant improvements in the healthcare sector in Kalyana Karnataka region and said the state government is taking proactive steps in this direction. “Though vaccination programmes should ideally be implemented by the Central Government, repeated requests to make HPV vaccination a national initiative has not yielded results. Hence, the Karnataka government has decided to launch the programme on its own. With this, Karnataka will become the first state in India to introduce such a programme,” he said.

Additional ly, the government has planned to provide ‘Vatsalya kits’ for pregnant women in the region. As part of a broader initiative to bring down maternal and infant mortality rates to zero, the government has allocated Rs 360 crore in the budget, as announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The healthcare sector in Kalyana Karnataka has been accorded high priority, with eight new primary health centres (PHCs) being established. Moreover, four community health centres in Mudagal, Kavitall, Jalahalli, and Arakera will be upgraded from 30-bed to 50-bed hospitals. The Lingasugur Taluk Hospital will be upgraded to a district hospital. Moreover, urban health centres have been approved for Manvi and Raichur.

Primary health centres in Gattur, Potnal, and Hatti will be upgraded to community health centres. The budget has also proposed plans to upgrade the Muski and Sirwar primary health centres to community health centres. The free health checkup camp, organised by the Health Department, received an overwhelming response.