Publication:

Strengthening cervical cancer prevention through district-wide HPV vaccination: an implementation case study from Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh, India

Background Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary cause of cervical cancer, one of the leading cancers among women in India. Introduction of HPV vaccination under India's universal immunization programme (UIP) represents an important step towards achieving the World Health Organization (WHO) strategy for cervical cancer elimination. Although vaccine efficacy is well established, published evidence describing district-level implementation experiences remains limited. To describe the planning, implementation, operational performance, and lessons learned from the district-wide HPV vaccination programme in Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh.

Methods A retrospective descriptive implementation case study was conducted using programme data collected from 28 February 2026 to 4 August 2026. Data were obtained from district HPV vaccination monitoring reports, session reports, beneficiary registers, microplans, vaccine stock records, supervisory reports, and electronic vaccine intelligence network (eVIN) records. Indicators included session completion, beneficiaries vaccinated, vaccine utilization, and reconciliation between administrative and eVIN records.

Results A total of 3,865 vaccination sessions were planned and 3,863 (99.95%) were conducted. Overall, 25,276 adolescent girls received HPV vaccination. eVIN documented 24,897 vaccine doses utilized, giving an absolute difference of 379 doses (1.5%) between administrative vaccination records and eVIN utilization. CHC Faridpur achieved complete implementation, with 152 of 152 planned sessions conducted, 2,478 beneficiaries vaccinated, and zero difference between beneficiary records and eVIN utilization.

Conclusion The Bareilly implementation demonstrates that large-scale HPV vaccination can be integrated within routine immunization infrastructure through strong leadership, detailed microplanning, intersectoral collaboration, supportive supervision, and digital vaccine logistics monitoring. The operational experience may inform implementation in similar districts.