title: The biopolitics of reproductive technologies beyond the clinic: localizing HPV vaccines in India.
abstract: The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine research and marketing in India exemplifies the privatization of public sectors and global assemblages of novel actors and public-private partnerships in service delivery and pharmaceutical marketing. Drawing on ethnographic research, in this article I examine how the molecularized conception of cervical cancer and the simultaneous global rise of the HPV vaccine is redefining the meaning of prevention, the role of the state, and blurring the relationship between health care and health research in India. In 2009, two Indian states began "demonstration projects" to vaccinate 30,000 girls. The subsequent deaths of a number of girls exposed inherent problems with the projects. For many health activists, the vaccine has potentially grave consequences for India's public health system. This case demonstrates how biopolitical actors, and the drive for biocapital, can create a public health campaign that might in the end place women's health and the public health system at a greater risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. ftowghi@access.uzh.ch
authors.forename: Fouzieyha
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Towghi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D060432:Anthropology, Medical; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D032541:Mass Vaccination; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011057:Politics; D011634:Public Health; D055818:Public-Private Sector Partnerships; D060728:Reproductive Health; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines