In India, cervical cancer is amongst the top two causes of cancer mortality in women. 122,844 new cervical cancer cases are diagnosed annually in India and the country contributes 23% to the world incidence of cervical cancer.

Annual number of new cervical cancer cases and death is maximum in the age group 45-59 years. Age-standardized incidence & mortality rates of cervical cancer are maximum in India as compared to other countries of Southern Asia.

Moreover, over 80% of women newly diagnosed with cervical cancer live in developing countries; most are diagnosed when the disease is in the advance stage.  

Stressing on the need for the Indian women to undergo the regular checkups, Dr Anuj Goyal who is an expert in the area, told BioSpectrum in a recent interaction on the international women's day that the awareness too can play a vital role in ensuring lifestyle changes and need to undergo regular check ups.

"There is a significant mortality rate that has been detected in the Indian women and that can be prevented provided there are regular check ups. The vaccination can also reduce the mortality rate by 95% and early stage chemotheraphy can also lower the chances," says Dr Goyal who has been works a consultant at various prestigious hospitals in Delhi. He feels that the area has been long ignored as there is no big scale government run programme to educate women. 

Dr Goyal also sought to dispel the myths surrounding cervical cancer.He mentions, "Lot of people link it to the hereditary problem which infact is not the case here. 90 % of the cases are due to the human papilloma virus (HPV).