SHIMLA: Swasth Bharat mission, aiming at providing affordable health services to all and immunization of children under ‘Mission Indradhanush’ to bring down the mortality rate from 28 to single digit is being pursued with vigor, Union health minister J P Nadda has said.
Talking to media persons here, Nadda said that after the launch of Mission Indradhanush 40 lakh out of 90 lakh undiminished and 70 lakh partially immunized children have been covered in the first phase started on April 7 and with increase of five per cent in each phase all the left out children would be immunized.
‘Mission Indradhanush’, covering immunization against seven life-threatening but vaccine preventable diseases including diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis-B has made good progress, the minister said.
Pentavalent vaccine including combination of five vaccines has also been introduced and to protect the children from preventable diseases, four new vaccines – Inactivated Polio, Adult Japanese Encephalitis, Rotavirus and Measles Rubella vaccines – are proposed to be introduced as part of Universal Immunization Program, he added.
Nadda said that out of 201 high focus districts, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children, 82 districts are in four states of UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan and the Mission will focus on 4,00,000 high risk settlements while 297 districts will be targeted in the second phase to commence from September 2015.
He said that the Ministry observed National Deworming Day on February 10, 2015 and against a target of 10.31 crore children in 1-19 year age group, 8.98 crore children received deworming tablets.
Besides launching action Plan for elimination of Kala-Azar by 2015, benefiting about 11.65 crore population other preventive programs like Intensified Diarrhoea Control, Integrated Action Plan for Pneumonia and Diarrhea (IAPPD) and National Leprosy Eradication Programs have also been launched. -PTI
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