Within six weeks of its launch, the Tamil Nadu government’s Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme reached 81% coverage in the four pilot districts of Ariyalur, Tiruvannamalai, Perambalur, and Dharmapuri.

The programme was rolled out on January 27 to vaccinate girls aged 14 years to protect them against cervical cancer. A total of 27,000 girls were enumerated in the four districts of which 81% have been vaccinated with the single dose HPV vaccine - 3,100 girls vaccinated in Ariyalur, 10,300 in Tiruvannamalai, 2,150 in Perambalur and 6,500 in Dharmapuri, according to officials of the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.