New Delhi: Cervical cancer remains the second most common cancer among women in India, pulling more than 1.2 lakh women into its grip every year and claiming around 70,000 lives. What makes the tragedy sharper is that most of these deaths are preventable. Low awareness, delayed detection, and the high cost of advanced treatment keep pushing women into late-stage diagnosis – when survival chances drop and the financial burden rises steeply.
Cervical Cancer Kit, AIIMS
In a promising breakthrough, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has developed an affordable, Make-in-India diagnostic kit that can detect cervical cancer-causing HPV in just two hours, with 100 percent accuracy, and at a stunningly low price of ₹100. If cleared for public use, this could become one of the most significant steps in India’s fight against cervical cancer.
After completing patient trials, AIIMS has handed the kit over to private pharmaceutical companies for independent validation.
Senior doctors at the institute say the kit is expected to enter the market by the end of 2026. Currently, HPV DNA tests cost around ₹6,000 in private hospitals and roughly ₹2,000 at AIIMS. A Pap smear is the cheapest option, but its accuracy hovers around 70 percent. HPV DNA tests reach about 85 percent accuracy, while biopsy-based koilocytosis tests offer roughly 90 percent precision. The new nanotech-based kit aims to surpass all of them in both affordability and reliability.
Since 2021, AIIMS has tested around 400 samples using this new kit – each returning 100 percent accuracy. The project is led by Dr. Subash Chandra Yadav from the Electron and Microscope Facility, along with former gynaecology professor Dr. Neerja Bhatla and team members Sursti Raman, Jyoti Meena, and Pranay Tanwar.
Explaining how the kit works, Dr. Subash Chandra Yadav describes it as “nanotech meets diagnostics.” A woman undergoes a sample collection similar to a routine Pap smear, but instead of the sample traveling to a lab for traditional microscopic examination, the process is completed on-site using the kit.
A special solution breaks open the cells to release HPV DNA or RNA. Magnetic nanobeads coated with molecular probes – “like tiny Velcro” – attach only to high-risk HPV types. A magnet pulls these beads aside, separating the virus from unwanted cellular debris.
After a wash and a buffer step, the beads trigger a colour-changing reaction. Under UV light, the sample glows red if high-risk HPV is present.
The entire process takes less than an hour, making it ideal for rural screening camps and clinics where women often cannot return for follow-up visits. Its sensitivity, driven by nanotech, allows it to detect even minuscule viral traces that standard tests may miss.
If successfully commercialized, this kit could reshape cervical cancer screening in India – bringing down testing costs, expanding early detection, and potentially saving thousands of lives every year.
(Cover Photo: instagram.com/aiims_delhi_campus/)
