‘Incentives for full immunisation of kids might help in increasing reach’

To increase the rate of immunisation in the state, the full immunisation campaign among the community needs a revision.

Experts believe that apart from targeting specific districts where the rate is poor, linking incentives might help.

“We have incentive for institutional delivery by pregnant women in the state and we can have similar scheme for couples who complete the five year immunisation of their kids and submit the card, with some designated place,” said Prof Vinod Jain, senior faculty at King George’s Medical University and a public health expert.

Statistics reveal that the full immunisation coverage has increased by 28.1% from 2005-06 to 2015-15. However, nearly half the state’s children (48.9%) under 2 years of age are still not fully immunized.

Full immunisation coverage is nearly half among the state’s children under 2 years of age and this needs to be increased to reduce the mortality rate among the kids.

Death estimates from year 2015 show that most pneumococcal deaths (around 19,000 deaths) of kids below the age of five were reported in Uttar Pradesh.

Immunisation prevents illness, disability and death from vaccine-preventable diseases. There are 25 diseases that can be prevented by vaccines including diphtheria, measles, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumonia, polio, rotavirus diarrhoea, rubella and tetanus.

“The idea is to make couples understand the importance of full immunisation and if it can be done with some incentive for some period, the campaign can include such a scheme,” said Dr Sandeep Kapoor, director, Healthcity Trauma Centre and Superspeciality Hospital.