Noida, April 10 -- With an aim to protect hundreds of young girls from cervical cancer-a disease that claims thousands of lives in India each year - Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel on Wednesday inaugurated a large-scale HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination campaign for school going girls in Gautam Budh Nagar.

The event was held at Panchsheel Balak Inter College, Sector 91, under the aegis of the Akanksha Samiti, a registered NGO and the development arm of the Indian Administrative Officers' Wives Association of UP, which works to empower underprivileged women and children through initiatives in education, health, and skill development.

On the first day, 506 students, aged nine years or more, received the vaccine along with heal...