THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU
MUMBAI, JUNE 24, 2026
Karkinos Healthcare, a 100 per cent step-down subsidiary of
Reliance Industries Limited, has achieved a significant milestone by completing
HPV DNA screening for more than one lakh women across India, reinforcing
efforts to expand access to high-quality cervical cancer screening and
follow-up care.
The achievement marks an important step in strengthening
India’s cervical cancer prevention ecosystem, particularly in underserved
regions where access to screening and continuity of care remain major
challenges.
While cervical cancer prevention is often hindered by limited
access to screening services, a significant barrier also lies in the loss of
patients during follow-up after a positive test result. Karkinos Healthcare’s
model addresses both challenges through World Health Organization
(WHO)-recommended HPV DNA testing and a digitally enabled continuum of care
that integrates awareness, screening, tracking, triage, patient navigation, and
follow-up.
Commenting on the milestone, Dr. Neerja Bhatla, Consultant,
Early Detection and Women Wellness, Karkinos Healthcare, who is also a Padma
Shri awardee and globally acclaimed leader in women’s health and oncology,
said, “The evidence has been clear for some time that HPV DNA testing is the
most reliable primary screen we have for cervical cancer. What matters now is
not testing at scale alone but also ensuring that every woman who tests
positive is carried through to diagnosis and treatment across the care
continuum. A program that can demonstrate that linkage at this volume, and well
beyond the big cities, is exactly the direction India’s cervical cancer
elimination effort needs.”
Highlighting the importance of extending screening services
beyond urban centres, Dr. Goura Kishore Rath, Senior Oncology Advisor, Karkinos
Healthcare, and former Head of NCI-India and Chief of DRBRAIRCH-AIIMS, said,
“For decades, the obstacle in this country has not been our understanding of
cervical cancer; it has been the reach. Bringing a high-quality test to women
in districts and small towns and then carrying them through the system rather
than leaving them with only a result, is how a public-health gain is actually made.
This is the model that has to scale.”
Emphasising the human impact of the initiative, Sripriya Rao,
Chief Growth Officer – Women Wellness and Head of the Distributed Cancer Care
Network (DCCN), Karkinos Healthcare, said, “Every one of these one lakh tests
represents a woman who was met where she was. The measure of this work is not
how many women we reached, but how many we did not lose along the way, and
whether we did it with dignity, and sustainably, for women who have
historically been the last to be served. That is the standard we hold ourselves
to.”
Paying tribute to a pioneer in cancer prevention, she added,
“At Karkinos, we dedicate this milestone to the late Dr R. Sankaranarayanan,
fondly known to us as ‘Shankar Sir’, whose scientific leadership and unwavering
conviction in early detection laid the foundation for this work. Shankar Sir
believed that no woman should die of a cancer we already know how to prevent.
Backed by the belief, conviction, and unflinching support of Reliance, we are confident
of carrying this journey forward to one million tests next, and to one hundred
million responsibly, sustainably, and without ever letting a single woman fall
through the pathway. We also acknowledge the continued guidance of Dr Partha
Basu of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in the science
of cancer prevention.”
The milestone was achieved through multiple implementation
models across diverse geographies, including public health programmes,
public-private partnerships, CSR-supported initiatives, nurse-assisted and
self-sampling programmes, district-level screening campaigns, and targeted
outreach for underserved and high-risk communities. A substantial proportion of
the women screened were those who, due to geographical, social, or economic
barriers, may otherwise have lacked access to preventive healthcare services.
The accomplishment demonstrates that high-quality HPV DNA
testing can be effectively delivered at scale through technology-driven care
pathways. The infrastructure, operational learnings, and digital systems
developed through the programme are expected to support wider adoption of
organised cervical cancer screening across the country and contribute
significantly to India’s cervical cancer elimination goals.
HPV DNA testing is a molecular screening method that detects
high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of nearly all cervical cancer
cases. The WHO recommends it as the preferred primary screening tool because of
its superior sensitivity compared to visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA)
and cytology (Pap smear) tests.
The WHO’s global cervical cancer elimination strategy aims to achieve the 90–70–90 targets by 2030 — ensuring that 90 per cent of girls are fully vaccinated against HPV by the age of 15, 70 per cent of women undergo screening with a high-performance test by ages 35 and 45, and 90 per cent of women diagnosed with cervical disease receive appropriate treatment.
Cervical cancer remains one of the most preventable forms of cancer. Experts emphasize that timely screening, early detection, and effective follow-up care can prevent the majority of cervical cancer-related deaths, making expanded access to quality screening one of the most impactful interventions for improving women’s health outcomes in India.
