New Delhi: In line with India’s commitment to the Cancer Moonshot initiative, Prime Minister Modi announced a grant of $7.5 million to support cancer testing, screening, and diagnostics in the Indo-Pacific region, reinforcing the nation’s “One World, One Health” vision.
PM Modi made the announcement during the Quad Cancer Moonshot event hosted by U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on September 21, held on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware. As part of the initiative, India will also contribute to radiotherapy treatments and capacity building for cancer prevention in the Indo-Pacific.
As reported by etvbharat.com, the Prime Minister highlighted that India will provide 40 million vaccine doses to Indo-Pacific countries under the GAVI and Quad programs, emphasizing that the Quad’s actions are aimed at benefiting people, not just nations, reflecting a human-centric approach.
Commending President Biden’s initiative focused on preventing, detecting, and treating cervical cancer, PM Modi remarked that it would greatly enhance affordable, accessible, and quality healthcare for people in the Indo-Pacific. He also shared that India is undertaking a nationwide cervical cancer screening program and has developed a cervical cancer vaccine. Furthermore, India is exploring AI-based treatment protocols for the disease.
India will offer technical assistance in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for cancer screening and care through a $10 million contribution to the Global Initiative on Digital Health. This support includes sharing expertise from India’s National Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) portal, which tracks long-term data on cancer screening and care.
The Quad Cancer Moonshot initiative, launched by the United States, Australia, India, and Japan, aims to address gaps in cervical cancer care in the Indo-Pacific region, a preventable disease that remains a major health challenge. The initiative will bolster cancer care infrastructure, expand research collaborations, and provide better support for cancer prevention, detection, and treatment.
India will provide HPV sampling kits, diagnostic tools, and cervical cancer vaccines worth $7.5 million to the Indo-Pacific region. This contribution aims to enhance local efforts in early detection and prevention while supporting vaccination programs to reduce the disease burden across the region.
Domestically, India is scaling up population-based screenings for oral, breast, and cervical cancers under its National Program for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases. Using the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) method for cervical cancer screening—a cost-effective technique that allows healthcare workers to detect early signs of the disease without advanced lab infrastructure—India is setting a model for other regions in the Indo-Pacific.
The Indian government is also enhancing access to specialized cancer treatment centers under the ‘Strengthening of Tertiary Care Cancer Centres’ program, supporting states and union territories to improve treatment capacity, especially in underserved areas.
India’s dedication to eliminating cervical cancer is further supported by research from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), focusing on improving screening, early diagnosis, and timely treatment. The findings will be shared with Indo-Pacific countries to foster regional collaboration in the coming years.