LUCKNOW, March 1 -- Uttar Pradesh launched the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign on Saturday as part of a larger nationwide drive rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Ajmer, Rajasthan. In Lucknow, the drive was inaugurated by deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak and minister of state for health Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh at King George's Medical University (KGMU). The vaccination drive aimed at checking cervical cancer will run in campaign mode for the next three months and gradually cover the entire state as part of routine immunisation, officials said. "I want to assure daughters and women that their protection is the state government's priority. This vaccination will cover all eligible girls in the state. All know that before 2017 women going out of homes were accompanied by family members, but things have changed under this government," Pathak said, addressing the gathering at KGMU after launching the drive. Fifteen girls were vaccinated at the launch ceremony. "The vaccination is for girls who are 14 years old but have not celebrated their 15th birthday," said Dr HD Agrawal, director general family welfare, Uttar Pradesh. The state has over 26 lakh (2.6 million) girls in this age bracket who will benefit in the coming months. The vaccine is available as a single dose. "We have 10,59,995 doses (10.59 lakh or 1.05 million doses) of the vaccine available in Uttar Pradesh. More doses will come from the government of India," said Dr Ajay Gupta, state immunisation officer, Uttar Pradesh. "We are getting up to four HPV-positive women patients a month during screening. The HPV vaccine has high efficacy, so cases can go down with vaccination in the future," said Prof Malvika Misra, senior faculty, obstetrics and gynaecology, at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow. Shanjali Jaiswal, the first girl to receive a vaccine dose at the launch ceremony, said, "I feel no problem and I am sure the vaccine will protect me." She and other girls received vaccination certificates from the deputy CM. Vaccination will primarily be available at centres with 24x7 medical facilities, such as community health centres or higher-level facilities. Parents of the girls to be vaccinated must provide a consent letter and age proof as vaccination is voluntary. Those present at the event included Dr Pawan Arun Kumar, director general medical health, Amit Ghosh, additional chief secretary (health), Dr NB Singh, chief medical officer of Lucknow, Dr Amit Singh, joint director family planning and other officials....