Health ministry officials: Poonam Pandey not considered govt's cervical cancer awareness campaign ambassador

Officials from the Union Ministry of Health on February 7 clarified that actress Poonam Pandey will not be regarded as a brand ambassador for the country's cervical cancer awareness campaign.

The statement came after reports claimed that Pandey and her team are in discussions with ministry officials and that she is expected to serve as the campaign's face.

The announcement of Pandey's "death" from the illness dominated the news earlier this month and sparked heated discussion on social media. 

Eventually, it was discovered that the actress and her team had staged the story to raise "critical awareness" about cervical cancer.

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech said the government will encourage vaccination of girls in the age group of 9-14 years to prevent cervical cancer. 

The Union health ministry had last month said it is closely monitoring the incidence of cervical cancer in the country and is in regular touch with states and various health departments on this.

In June 2022, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization recommended the introduction of the HPV vaccine in universal immunisation with "a one-time catch-up for 9-14 year-old adolescent girls followed with routine introduction at nine years", the Rajya Sabha was told in March. India is home to about 16 per cent of the world's women, but accounts for about a quarter of all cervical cancer incidence and nearly a third of global cervical cancer deaths.