The HPV Vaccine: Who It Is Actually For, and What It Costs

By Dr. Pratik Banerjee, MBBS, PGCC, Paed (IMA) — Family General Physician, 37 years in practice All Is Well Medical Centre, Vasant Kunj

The short answer

Most people who ask us about the HPV vaccine are adults, and a good number of them are men. The people it protects most are 9 to 14 year olds. Both of those things are true at once, and this page is about the gap between them.

Since 28 February 2026 the vaccine has been free at government facilities for girls aged 14. That programme uses a vaccine covering four virus types. It is a genuine advance, and if your daughter is eligible, take it.

We stock the nine-type vaccine privately — the same four types plus five more. The four-type covers the strains behind roughly 70% of cervical cancers; the nine-type covers around 90%.

₹9,800 per dose, administration included. How many doses depends on age, so the course total varies — set out below.

It is licensed for men as well as women, and for men the argument is different from what most people assume.

And whichever vaccine you have, cervical screening is still needed later. No HPV vaccine covers every type.

All Is Well Medical Centre, Vasant Kunj. Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM. Appointments only — call 8800844793.

What changed this year

India carries about a quarter of the world's cervical cancer deaths — roughly 1.2 lakh new cases and close to 80,000 deaths a year. It is among the most common cancers in Indian women, and it is one of the few that can be substantially prevented.

The HPV vaccine has been available in India privately since 2008, but uptake was low, and cost was a large part of why.

On 28 February 2026 the national programme launched. Free at government facilities — primary health centres, community health centres and district hospitals — for girls aged 14, and for those turning 15 within the first 90 days. The intensive drive has finished; the vaccine now continues on routine immunisation days.

If your daughter is 14, or close to it, ask at your nearest government facility first. It is free there, and it works.

What HPV actually is

Human papillomavirus is a family of very common viruses, spread by skin-to-skin contact. Most sexually active adults are exposed at some point, and the great majority never know — the immune system clears the infection within a year or two with no symptoms and no consequence.

The problem is the minority of infections that do not clear. A persistent infection with one of the higher-risk types can, over ten to twenty years, cause changes in the cells of the cervix that may eventually become cancer.

Two facts follow from that, and they shape everything else on this page.

First, it is slow. The gap between infection and cancer is usually more than a decade. That is why screening works — there is a long window in which changes can be found and treated before they become dangerous.

Second, the vaccine works before exposure, not after. It teaches the immune system to recognise the virus so that infection never establishes. It cannot clear an infection someone already has. This is the whole reason it is given at 9 to 14, years before most people are exposed.

Four types, or nine

Not all HPV types behave the same way. A few cause the great majority of the harm.

The four-type vaccine — the one in the government programme — covers types 16 and 18, which between them are responsible for around 70% of cervical cancers, and types 6 and 11, which cause around 90% of genital warts.

The nine-type vaccine covers those four plus types 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58. Those five account for roughly another 20% of cervical cancers, taking total coverage from about 70% to about 90%.

That is the entire difference: about twenty percentage points of cervical cancer coverage.

It is a real difference and it is worth understanding, but it is worth keeping in proportion. Both vaccines cover the two types that do most of the damage. A child who has the free four-type vaccine is well protected. A child who has neither is not protected at all, and that is the comparison that actually matters.

If cost is not the deciding factor for your family, the broader vaccine is the more complete option. If it is, the free one is a good vaccine and the sensible choice.

Age, and how many doses

9 to 14 years — two doses, usually six months apart. This is the recommended window, for two reasons: the immune response at this age is stronger than in older teenagers and adults, and it comes before exposure.

15 years and above — three doses, over six months. The schedule changes because the antibody response in older recipients is lower, so an extra dose is needed to reach the same protection.

Anyone whose immunity is reduced needs three doses regardless of age.

The government programme uses a single dose, which reflects growing evidence that one dose gives substantial protection in this age group — an important finding for large-scale programmes where every additional dose is a logistical cost.

What it costs here

₹9,800 per dose, and that includes giving it. There is no separate charge for the appointment when you come for the vaccine.

What matters is how many doses, because that is where the real number sits:

Age 9 to 14 — two doses. ₹19,600 for the course, six months apart.

Age 15 and above — three doses. ₹29,400 for the course, over six months.

Anyone with reduced immunity — three doses, whatever their age.

Two things worth saying plainly about that figure.

If your daughter is 14, the government vaccine is free. Paying ₹19,600 privately buys roughly twenty percentage points of additional cervical cancer coverage. That is a real difference and some families will want it. It is not a difference worth going into debt for, and if the choice is the free vaccine or nothing, take the free vaccine.

For adults there is no free option. The national programme covers 14-year-old girls only. So for everyone else the private course is the only route, and the cost is what it is.

Men, and why the argument is different

Most of the men who ask us about this assume it is a women's vaccine and they are being thorough. The real case for men is more specific than that.

HPV does not only cause cervical cancer. The same virus types cause a proportion of cancers of the throat and mouth, the anus and the penis, and rates of HPV-related throat cancer in men have been rising in several countries. Types 6 and 11 cause genital warts, which affect both sexes.

But here is the part that rarely gets said. Women have a second line of defence and men do not.

A woman who was never vaccinated still has cervical screening — a test that finds cell changes years before they become dangerous. It is not perfect, but it exists, it is routine, and it catches a great deal.

There is no equivalent screening programme for the HPV-related cancers that affect men. No routine test for throat, anal or penile cancer in the general population. Nothing that finds those changes early as a matter of course.

So for a man, vaccination is not one preventive tool among several. It is the only one there is. That is a narrower argument than "everyone should have it", and it is a more honest one.

There is also a public argument, which is about everyone rather than the individual. A virus that passes between people is contained faster when both sexes are vaccinated, and programmes that cover only girls take considerably longer to reduce how much virus is circulating.

If you have a son at 9 to 14, that is the age to do it, and almost nobody will offer it unprompted.

Can adults have it?

Yes, though the calculation is different.

The vaccine is licensed up to 45 in many countries, and it is safe at those ages. But it protects against types you have not yet met, and the older someone is, the more likely they have already been exposed to at least some of them. So the benefit is real but smaller, and it varies from person to person.

It is not useless after exposure, and it is not "too late" in the way people often assume — someone exposed to one type is still protected against the others. But an adult woman considering it should discuss her own situation with a gynaecologist rather than reading a general rule off a page.

What does not change with age is screening. See the next section.

The vaccine does not replace screening

This is the most important paragraph here, and the one most often left out.

No HPV vaccine covers every type that can cause cervical cancer. Even the nine-type version leaves roughly a tenth uncovered. A vaccinated woman is far less likely to develop cervical cancer, and she can still develop it.

Cervical screening — a smear test, or an HPV test — finds cell changes early, while they are still easily treated. It remains necessary for vaccinated women, on the same schedule as anyone else.

A woman who assumes the vaccine has made screening unnecessary has swapped a large risk reduction for a small one plus a blind spot. Both, together, is the answer.

Is it safe?

It has been given to hundreds of millions of people worldwide over close to two decades, and it is one of the more closely studied vaccines in use.

The common effects are the ordinary ones: soreness, redness or swelling at the injection site, sometimes a mild fever or headache for a day or so.

Fainting shortly after the injection is seen more often with adolescents than with younger children — this is a reaction to the needle rather than to the vaccine, and it is why we ask teenagers to sit for a few minutes afterwards rather than standing up and walking straight out.

Serious reactions are rare. Every government vaccination site in the national programme is linked to a round-the-clock adverse events management centre, and the same reporting applies to vaccination given privately.

If your daughter has a significant allergy, or is unwell on the day, tell us before rather than after.

What to do next

If she is 14, or turns 15 shortly: the free vaccine is available at government facilities. Start there.

If she is 9 to 13: she falls outside the current free programme. Two doses privately, six months apart, and this is the age at which the vaccine is most effective.

If she is 15 or older: three doses, and still worth doing.

If you have a son aged 9 to 14: this is the age, and the only preventive tool he will ever be offered for these cancers.

If you are an adult, of either sex: the benefit is real but smaller and it depends on your own history. Worth a conversation rather than an assumption in either direction.

Bring the vaccination card to any appointment. If it has been lost, that is not a disaster — bring what you have.

Getting it done

The paediatric schedule used at this clinic is Dr. Mannat Verma's own, and she sees children here. Adult women considering catch-up vaccination can discuss it with either of our gynaecologists. For anyone else, any of our general physicians can advise.

All Is Well Medical Centre Shop no. 1, Central Market, Sector B Rd, opposite Vasant Square Mall, Masoodpur, Sector B, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070

Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM. Appointments only — please call 8800844793 or book online before you come.

This article is general information and not a substitute for a consultation. Which vaccine, at which age, and whether it is worth it for a particular person are decisions to make with a doctor who knows the individual.

Reviewed by Dr. Pratik Banerjee, MBBS, PGCC, Paed (IMA) — Family General Physician, All Is Well Medical Centre, Vasant Kunj. Last reviewed: 9 September, 2026

Contact

Call 8800844793. Home visits 6 am to midnight.

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Shop no. 1, Central Market, Sector B Rd, opposite Vasant Square Mall, Masoodpur, Sector B, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, Delhi 110070

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