Supreme Court declines to hear PIL on HPV vaccination drive

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to entertain a public interest litigation raising concerns about the implementation of the government's nationwide human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign for adolescent girls, which is aimed at preventing cervical cancer.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana observed that in cases of incorrect vaccination, the ordinary rules of compensation would apply. The court orally remarked that the petition appeared to have been filed with an ulterior motive and lacked bonafide.

"Would you like to withdraw? Do you want us to comment something?" the Bench asked. "Don't ask us to make harsh observations. If petitioner members are doctors, it's a very very serious issue. It's a question of health of millions of our daughters. And you want to derail this," the court said.

The petition was filed by the Universal Health Organisation, which challenged the manner in which the government-backed programme is being implemented. It alleged violations of constitutional guarantees of informed consent, bodily autonomy, transparency and accountability.

Counsel for the petitioner clarified that the plea was not directed against the HPV vaccine itself. "I am not at all anti-vaccine. My first contention is the way it is being implemented. Second, there is no adverse event mechanism. Whenever there is an adverse event, it must be monitored. There should also be a compensation scheme," the lawyer submitted, adding that only adverse events and compensation were being pressed.

Following the court's refusal to entertain the plea, the counsel withdrew it and the matter was dismissed as withdrawn.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the nationwide HPV vaccination campaign for 14-year-old girls from Ajmer in Rajasthan on February 28. The campaign uses a single-dose Gardasil 4 vaccine, a quadrivalent HPV vaccine that protects against HPV types 16 and 18, which are responsible for cervical cancer, as well as types 6 and 11.