Health dept confident of achieving 90% full immunisation coverage
DATA From April to July 2018, overall full immunisation coverage has been 88.5% JAIPUR:
The health department is confident of achieving 90% full immunisation coverage (FIC) by December this year. Health secretary and National Health Mission chief Naveen Jain said that they are confident of achieving the target set by the prime minister.
He said there were some issues of reporting the exact number of immunisations. The central government announced an incentive for computer operators for entering data on immunisation, which was made effective from July 1 this year.
“In the last four months, there has been an improvement in FIC. In the coming four months, too, we will do good work and will achieve the 90% FIC,” Jain said.
According to pregnancy, child tracking system (PCTS) data, from April to July 2018, the overall FIC in Rajasthan has been 88.5%.
Jain said that all officials responsible for FIC in the districts have been asked to update the Mamta Card (immunisation chart of a child) of beneficiaries and accordingly update the Reproductive and Child Health register at the health centres as the central government will begin an evaluation survey from September 2, 2018, in Rajasthan.
India’s universal immunisation programme (UIP) is the largest in the world, catering to an annual birth cohort of 2.6 crore infants and three crore pregnant women through around 90 lakh sessions. However, over the past years, immunisation coverage among children aged 12-23 months in the country has increased at a slow pace of around 1% each year from 35% in 1992-93 to 62% in 2015-16.
Under its resolve to achieve 90% FIC by December 2020, the Union health ministry launched a massive catch up campaign called Mission Indradhanush (MI) in December 2014. After the first phase of the mission, FIC was increased by 6.7% point in one year, according to the integrated child health and immunisation survey. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had advanced the timeline for reaching the goal of 90% FIC to December 2018 and to achieve this, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare further intensified the MI activities in October 2017.
Rajasthan contributes to more than 6.7% (17.86 lakh) of India’s annual birth cohort. As per National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16), the FIC in the state among children of 12-23 months was 54.8%, as compared with the national average of 62%. Despite conducting four phases of MI in the state from 2015-2017, 12 (onethird of the districts) out of 33 districts were identified nationally for IMI in Rajasthan. The state lags by 35% points (as per NFHS-4) from the set target of 90%.