 Hello, I am Dr. Antara Biswas, Consultant-Pediatrician at Manipal Hospital, Skolkata. Today on International Women's Day, I would like to talk about a very serious concern of women which is easily preventable by a simple vaccine in childhood. This is the HPV vaccine which is given to protect against cervical cancer in women. Servix is the lower, thin neck of the uterus that connects the uterus to the vagina or the birth canal. Any woman, especially those above 30 years, are susceptible to cervical cancer. Nearly all cervical cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus or HPV. HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. It is easily spread from one person to another by skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity. It is possible to have HPV without even knowing it and thus one can unknowingly transmit it to another person. In India, almost one lakh women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and almost about 60% of women die of it. Despite it being an easily preventable and treatable disease, in addition to cancer, HPV can cause other health problems such as genital warts. In order to prevent HPV related cervical cancer and other illnesses, we can very easily give a vaccine. It is important to give your daughter the HPV vaccine at the correct age. Presently there are two types of HPV vaccines available in India, a bivalent vaccine known as Cerverix and a quadrivalent vaccine known as Gardasil. The bivalent vaccine protects against two strains of HPV, type 16 and 18, while the quadrivalent vaccine gives additional protection against type 6 and 11, which commonly causes genital warts. For the HPV vaccine to work best, it is important to get all doses before being exposed to the virus. Hence it is important to complete the vaccination schedule before a girl undergoes her first sexual contact. Hence the vaccine is given in a two or a three dose schedule depending on the age of the girl. For those girls aged 9 to 14 years, we give two doses six months apart whereas those who are aged 15 years and above and those who are immunocompromised require three doses at zero, one to two months and six months. The vaccine is very safe and effective and there are almost no serious side effects. At present the vaccine is approved only for girls in our country. A third gender neutral variant of the vaccine which is the 9-valent HPV vaccine has recently been launched but it is yet to be incorporated in our vaccine schedule. As parents, we must not lose sight of this golden window period for protecting our daughters from such a deadly disease. All girls must be vaccinated at the right time in order to protect them for life. On this Women's Day, let us all pledge to protect the daughters of our country because when each mother chooses to vaccinate her daughter, only then will India progress towards cervical cancer elimination. Thank you. Thank you.