80% infants vaccinated, state betters national average of 62%
Every four out of five infants in Rajasthan have been vaccinated, shows data from the health department, which means that the state has immunisation coverage of 80%, higher than the national coverage of 62%.
Rajasthan’s data shows that out of the remaining, about 3% are left-outs (infants who have not received even a single vaccine after birth) and the rest are drop-outs (infants who do not complete the full vaccination schedule under the National Immunisation Programme).
Data shows that 17,24,905 infants in Rajasthan were to be vaccinated in 2016-17, out of which 14,18,785 were vaccinated. This was 2% higher than the last fiscal , said Dr VK Mathur, public health director.
“According to National Family Health Survey -4, the national coverage was 62%, while the coverage in Rajasthan in the last fisThe cal was 82.25%, which is more than the national average” he said.
There are many reasons for not immunising infants, including manpower shortage, fear of adverse effects of immunisation, inaccessibility as many villages and hamlets are situated in remote areas, lack of awareness among parents, migrating population and others, he said.
Mission Indradhanush was launched in April 2015 to immunise the left-outs and drop-outs.
fourth phase of MI ran in the state for a week from April 7 this year. The session will again take place on May 7, June 7 and July 7 and continue for a week.
“In the first round of the fourth phase of Mission Indradhanush, a total of 48,762 infants were vaccinated. However, not everyone could be vaccinated in this phase. Action will be taken against erring health officials and personnel for not vaccinating infants despite having the list of head counts”, he added.
He said vaccination can help in bringing down child mortality, as the immunity of vaccinated children is stronger than those not vaccinated. Infants who are not vaccinated are at risk of diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles, which can easily be prevented with vaccines.
According to the National Family Health Survey - 4 , the infant mortality rate in Rajasthan is 41 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality rate is 51 per 1,000 live births.