Fully vaccinated village in Churu is now a model for others to follow

A village in Churu district has achieved the distinction of being the only village in Rajasthan to become both open defecation free (ODF) and also achieving 100% vaccination coverage for all children and pregnant women.

A signboard has been put up at the entrance of the village to announce the achievement, which is the result of joint efforts by the villagers and district health officials.

The health officials now plan to use Ramsara village as an example to inspire other villages in the district to ensure 100% vaccination. Located about 200 km from Jaipur, the village has a population of 1,952 according to the 2011 census.

“Ramsara achieving the status of a fully-vaccinated village will not only bring down the mortality rate but also help in creating awareness in other villages,” district reproductive and child health officer (RCHO) Dr Sunil Jandu said.

The mission called, Abhinav Pahal, was launched in June and was completed in about a month. As part of the mission, 15 teams of health workers were formed who did door-to-door survey work and gave information about the benefits of vaccination to the villagers.

The team also prepared a list of children and pregnant women who had not got vaccinated. After that, a special drive was conducted with the help of the villagers and the entire village was vaccinated.

The team created awareness about nine fatal diseases that could be prevented with vaccination. The women employees working in the health centre of the village ensured that all pregnant women had received vaccination doses.

The state health department has set new targets to prevent infant death and reduce the mortality rate. Rajasthan figures quite low in the country in terms of infant mortality rate (IMR). According to the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16), the IMR in the state is 41 per 1,000 live births. This means 41 infants die per 1,000 live births under one year of their birth and the figure is higher in the rural regions. Over the past 10 years, the state has reported a significant drop in IMR.

Ten years ago, 61 infants died per 1,000 live births but now it has dropped to 41 deaths. The health department aims to bring it further down to 23 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2027.