Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, who holds multiple key positions including Minister of State for Science and Technology, recently chaired a high-level meeting with representatives from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), AIIMS New Delhi, BIRAC, ICMR, and industry partners to assess progress on India’s indigenously developed HPV test kits for cervical cancer screening. He hailed the development as a major step forward in the country’s preventive healthcare journey, led by the DBT under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Dr. Singh underscored that India’s ultimate objective is to establish itself as a global leader in preventive healthcare. He highlighted the remarkable strides taken by DBT and BIRAC, including the development of India’s first DNA vaccine, which has gained international recognition and significantly enhanced India’s reputation in global healthcare innovation.
He emphasized the transformative shift from outdated beliefs that India lacked focus on both preventive and curative health measures. This has now changed, thanks to advances like the DNA vaccine and Nafithromycin, India’s first domestically developed antibiotic, which has shown promising outcomes. Dr. Singh noted that such achievements were possible due to strong private sector involvement and a unified “whole-of-science, whole-of-government” strategy.
Another notable success cited by the Minister was India’s gene therapy trial for hemophilia, which earned a feature in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. He mentioned that India’s contributions are now being recognized by leading global medical publications, including The British Medical Journal and NEJM, reflecting growing acknowledgment of the country’s leadership in healthcare research.
Dr. Singh outlined four key focus areas for India’s healthcare strategy:
- Preventive Healthcare – Shifting the system’s foundation from treatment to prevention.
- Youth-Centric Strategies – Targeting early prevention for adolescents and young adults, particularly given the high rates of cervical cancer in these groups.
- Women’s Health – Enhancing initiatives under both the Health and Women & Child Development ministries.
- Public-Private Partnerships – Encouraging collaborations domestically and internationally, which he described as “PPP plus PPP”—an approach successfully used by European countries in life sciences.
India ranks fourth in the world in terms of cervical cancer cases, Dr. Singh stated, pointing to a critical need for effective preventive screening. While HPV isn’t the only cause of cervical cancer, it’s linked to over 90% of cases, making it a clear target for prevention efforts.
The overarching aim, he said, is to make cervical cancer screening widely available, affordable, and accessible. Recalling his own early initiative in 1996 to provide free insulin for Type 1 diabetes through a collaboration with Novo Nordisk, he demonstrated the positive impact private companies can have in public health.
He also observed that although awareness around vaccines has increased following the Covid-19 pandemic, broader preventative efforts—including improvements in hygiene, cultural awareness, and public health education—are equally important.
Under the GCI-BIRAC-DBT initiative, India has successfully developed and validated new rapid HPV diagnostic kits based on RT-PCR technology. These were tested at top research labs across the country and are intended to offer a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution for cervical cancer screening.
The need is urgent: WHO data reveals that one in every five women with cervical cancer worldwide is from India, and the country accounts for 25% of global cervical cancer deaths—many due to late diagnosis. Existing screening methods like Pap smears, VIA/VILI, and HPV DNA tests are expensive and not easily accessible in all regions. The new indigenous test kits are expected to address these limitations and boost early detection efforts.
Dr. Singh connected this initiative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India by 2047 (Viksit Bharat 2047), emphasizing that India is tackling multiple healthcare challenges at once. With over 70% of the population under 40, he raised concerns about the rise in non-communicable diseases like early-onset Type 2 diabetes, traditionally seen only in older adults.
“If we truly want to harness the potential of our youth in building India’s future, it becomes our national duty to ensure their health through early prevention,” Dr. Singh said.
He concluded by calling for continued cross-sector cooperation so that the advances in science and healthcare research can directly benefit the general public—making healthcare more proactive, affordable, and accessible for all.
The meeting was attended by several prominent figures, including Dr. V.K. Paul of NITI Aayog, Dr. Rajesh Gokhale (DBT Secretary), BIRAC MD Jitendra Kumar, and gynecologic oncology expert Dr. Neerja Bhatla.
The session began with a solemn two-minute silence to honor the victims of a recent terror attack in Pahalgam, showing solidarity with the affected families.
