Bharat chauhan Srinagar, The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Govt. of
India, Directorate of Family Welfare MCH & Immunization with support from WHO
and UNICEF today organized a Media Sensitization Workshop with State & National
electronic & print media journalists on the Measles Rubella vaccination campaign at Srinagar.
Dr. Pradeep Haldar, Deputy Commissioner Immunization chaired the meeting along
with Dr. Samir Mattoo, Director Family Welfare MCH & Immunization J&K, Dr.
Muhammad Salim Khan HOD Social & Preventive Medicine, Govt. Medical College
Srinagar, Dr. Muzaffar Jan Professor & Incharge HOD Paediatrics GB Panth Hospital
GMC Srinagar, Dr. Qazi Haroon, State Immunization Officer J&K, Dr. Srinivasan RTL
WHO India, Dr. Sheema Chowdhary SMO Srinagar Health and Rahi Riyaz Ahmed,
Chairman Health & Hygiene Council, Provate Scools Association, J&K, provided
details of the Measles Rubella campaign which will be launched in the state targeting
around 43 lac children across 22 districts.
Dr. Qazi Haroon State Immunization Officer J&K opened the workshop by welcoming
the Dignitaries and Representatives from Print and Electronic media.
Dr. Pradeep Haldar, Deputy Commissioner, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
said, “Immunization is one of the most effective and cost-effective ways to protect
children’s lives and futures. Through full immunization coverage, we can make sure
that the benefits of life-saving vaccines reach every child. The recently introduced
measles-rubella vaccine, which will be provided for free in schools, during the
campaign, in health facilities and at outreach session sites, is another such step to
achieving our goals”.
Director, Family Welfare MCH & Immunization J&K Dr. Samir Mattoo presented the
State preparedness for the MR Campaign and said that the task is gigantic & we are
sure that the campaign will be successfully launched and completed with the support
from other on line departments like Education, ICDS etc. He further said that around
43,33,540 children from the age group of 9 months to 15 years will be covered in
the campaign , we will cover all Govt and private schools as 80% target children will
be vaccinated in schools in first phase starting from September 2018 and the rest of
20 % will be covered by outreach and sweeping sessions.
Addressing the gathering Sonia Sarkar, Communication Officer, UNICEF India said
“Media has been our long-standing partners in the fight against polio. We now seek
your support to ensure that children, no matter where they live, are immunized.
Vaccination not only saves children’s lives and ensure healthy and productive future,
but is also one of the most cost-effective public health intervention”.
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH & FW) has initiated measles-rubella (MR)
vaccination campaign in the age group of 9 months to less than 15 years in a
phased manner across the nation. MR Vaccine will become part of Routine
Immunization after successful completion of the MR Campaign.
The first phase of measles-rubella vaccination campaign was launched in February
2017 in five states, namely, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshadweep and
Puducherry. More than 3.3 crore children were vaccinated, reaching out to 97% of
the intended age group. The campaign was carried out in schools, community
centers and health facilities.
The second phase was rolled out from August 2017 in 8 states and Union Territories.
The states included Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman &
Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Uttarakhand aiming to cover 3.4 crore
children.
The Government of Jammu & Kashmir in partnership with WHO and UNICEF has
been engaging with civil society organizations, partners and academia as well as
media as a critical stakeholder in efforts to create trust in vaccines and address
myths around immunization to ensure every child in the country gets a fair start.
Note to the Editors:
Immunization is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions that
currently averts an estimated 2 to 3 million deaths every year globally. India has one
of the largest immunization programmes in the world, in terms of number of
beneficiaries, geographical coverage and quantities of vaccine used, with nearly 26
million new born babies targeted for immunization each year. Over 9 million
immunization sessions are held every year across the country.
However, despite this extensive coverage, only 65 per cent of the children in India
received all vaccines during the first year of their life. To tackle the issue, the
Government of India has launched Mission Indradhanush, a focused RI campaign, in
pre-identified districts from across the
country which account for majority of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated
children.
The measles-rubella campaign marks the introduction of the rubella vaccine in
India’s childhood immunization programme for the first time. Rubella, which is
commonly referred to as German measles is a mild infection, but can have serious
consequences if it occurs in pregnant women. India’s latest MR vaccine also protects
against measles, a major killer of small children. Highly contagious, it spreads
through contact and 1,34,200 measles deaths occurred globally in 2015, of which
nearly 49,200 occurred in India – nearly 37 per cent of the global burden of deaths
due to measles, mainly due to complications such as diarrhea and pneumonia.
