Nagaland launches Teeka Talk with Girl Effect India to strengthen HPV vaccination awareness and community engagement among adolescent girls and families.
DIMAPUR — The Department of Health & Family Welfare, in collaboration with Girl Effect India, launched ‘Teeka Talk’, an initiative to strengthen awareness and engagement around Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination across Nagaland, at the conference hall of the Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, Kohima, on Thursday.
The initiative was launched during a state-level meeting chaired by Principal Director of Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Keveduyi Theyo, which brought together over 60 stakeholders from the Health, Education and Women and Child Development (WCD) departments to strengthen coordination and community engagement around HPV vaccination, a DIPR report stated.
The Government of Nagaland is providing free HPV vaccination to girls aged 14 years at government health facilities.
HPV vaccination can help prevent infections that cause most cervical cancers, offering an opportunity to protect girls from the disease later in life.
Speaking at the launch, Dr. Theyo said Nagaland was committed to ensuring that adolescent girls and their families had access to accurate and trusted information on HPV vaccination to enable informed health decisions.
The principal director emphasised the need for close coordination among the Health, Education and WCD departments, along with meaningful engagement with schools, communities and frontline workers.
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The collaboration with Girl Effect India through Teeka Talk would support these efforts by bringing credible, youth-friendly information closer to girls and families across the state, Dr. Theyo added.
State Immunisation Officer Dr. Imkongtemsu Longchar said cervical cancer remained an important public health concern for women in India, but vaccination offered an opportunity to prevent the HPV infections that cause most cervical cancers.
He encouraged parents and caregivers to support eligible girls in receiving the HPV vaccine at the recommended age.
He added that stronger engagement with schools, communities and frontline health workers would help make trusted information on HPV vaccination more accessible to families across Nagaland.
Director of Girl Effect India, Kavita Ayyagari, said questions about vaccines were natural for parents and adolescent girls, particularly when a vaccine was new to them.
She said Teeka Talk aimed to make trusted information on HPV vaccination easier to access and understand through schools, communities, parent engagement and digital platforms.
She highlighted the importance of reaching families in Nagaland with information in formats and languages suited to diverse communities and geographically dispersed populations.
The launch discussions drew on perspectives from Kohima and Dimapur districts, while representatives from the Health, Education and WCD departments discussed opportunities to strengthen outreach across communities.
The next phase of the initiative will focus on coordinated implementation across departments and districts, with emphasis on school, parent and community engagement and ensuring that eligible adolescent girls and their families can access trusted information about HPV vaccination.
Teeka Talk supports parents, adolescents and communities with information on HPV vaccination and cervical cancer prevention. Its WhatsApp-based chatbot provides clear and credible information and answers to common questions about HPV vaccination and cervical cancer.
According to the National Cancer Registry Programme–Indian Council of Medical Research (NCRP–ICMR), 2024, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in India, with 78,499 women diagnosed and 42,392 lives lost.
Girl Effect India is an independent non-profit organisation working to advance the health, education and economic opportunities of adolescent girls and young women in Asia and Africa.
The organisation has been working in India since 2019 on adolescent health and wellbeing through media, mobile technology and AI-powered platforms.