Journal of Vaccines & Vaccination

Solving inequity challenges in immunization by using Mission Indradhanush approach in India

29^th International Conference on Vaccines and Immunization

March 19-20, 2018 | London, UK

Bhupendra Tripathi

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, India

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Vaccines Vaccin

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Immunization is one of the most cost effective public health interventions and has been a major tool for reduction of Indiaâ??s under-5-mortality rate from 69 in 2008 to 45 in 2015. Indiaâ??s immunization program is one of the largest public health programs in the world. It targets 30 million pregnant women and 26 million infants through more than 9 million immunization sessions organized annually. Despite being a very effective public health tool, benefit of immunization is often limited by its suboptimal reach to community. It was estimated that even though immunization program has been in place since 1978 in country, only 65.2% children were getting fully immunized (RSOC 2013-14 data). To address this problem, special immunization campaign with the name of â??Mission Indradhanush {meaning rainbow}â?? was launched in 2014, with a target to reach full immunization coverage >90% by 2020. Because of these campaigns, the increase in full immunization coverage has accelerated at the rate of 6.7% per year since 2015. Method: In spite of these campaigns, the progress is not uniform in all districts and certain areas, like urban slums not getting the required focus. Government of India decided to accelerate the full immunization coverage to 90% by 2018, instead of 2020 while providing special focus on urban areas and ensuring greater convergence with other ministries. To achieve the target in an accelerated mode, MoHFW has planned to implement â??Intensified Mission Indradhanushâ?? in 118 districts, 17 urban areas and 52 districts of north-eastern states in Q4 2017. Results: Intensive field monitoring will be done during these campaigns and detailed findings will be shared during the presentation.