cover story
“Utmost important that myths
around immunization be dispelled”
There is need to deploy real foot soldiers in the last mile connectivity areas to
achieve the vaccination campaign results India is looking for, believes Prof
Ramanan Laxminarayan
I
Tetanus, Polio, Tuberculosis, Measles, Hepatitis B and
Haemophilus influenzae type B - Hib) in the entire
country. In addition, vaccination against Rotavirus and
Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is provided in select
districts/states in the country.
The UIP provides vaccination against eight lifethreatening diseases (Diphtheria, Whooping cough,
With a view to achieve full immunization coverage
for all children at a rapid pace and to strengthen the
UIP, the Government of India launched Mission
Indradhanush in December 2014.
ndia has the largest number of births in the
world – more than 2.6 crores every year. More
than a crore immunization sessions are
organized each year to target these infants and 3
crore pregnant women for routine immunization
(RI) under the Universal Immunization Programme
(UIP). Full immunization against preventable
childhood diseases is the right of every child. The
programme offers free immunization services across
the country and has been operational for more than
30 years.
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BioVoiceNews | August 2016
In 2014, India’s full immunization coverage stood at
65%. Nearly 89 lakh children in the country were
still partially immunized or unimmunized, despite
the success of Polio elimination.