Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], December 3 (HBTV): The Russian government has responded sensitively to an appeal by Lucknow resident Manu Srivastava, who sought permission for his 21-year-old son, Ansh Srivastava, to be included in the trial of a cancer vaccine developed in Russia.
Manu Srivastava told ANI that the vaccine was not available in India, prompting him to request the Russian authorities to consider including his son in its clinical trial. He said, 'I requested them since my son has stage four cancer. He is being treated here, but the doctors haven't been fully responsive. I was worried as there was no certainty. So when I learned that a vaccine had been developed in Russia, proving effective in treating cancer, I sent letters to the Government of India and the Russian government. The reply came back saying my request was under consideration and the Russian government had sent it to their Ministry of Health for further processing.'
He added, 'We also wrote to the Indian government. A letter came from there as well. It stated that the vaccine, currently manufactured in Russia, is being implemented only in Russia. The people conducting the trials are local. So, we, and no other country, have yet received approval to conduct trials.'
Manu Srivastava said he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Union Health Minister, and senior officials in Russia and South Korea, requesting that his son be included in the vaccine trial.
He said that in response to his appeal, he received an official letter from the Government of the Russian Federation on October 27.
According to reports, Russia's cancer vaccine has successfully completed preclinical trials, demonstrating both safety and high efficacy. Veronika Skvortsova, head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA), announced the development at the Eastern Economic Forum on September 7, according to Tass.
She said that preclinical results confirmed the vaccine's safety, even with repeated administration, and showed significant effectiveness. Researchers observed reductions in tumour size and slowed tumour progression, ranging from 60 per cent to 80 per cent, depending on disease characteristics. Studies also indicated increased survival rates attributable to the vaccine.
(ANI)