State puts immunisation drive on fast track

Observing the year of Intensification of Routine Immunisation, the state health department has rolled up its sleeves once more to improve the immunisation coverage in Uttar Pradesh. The department has decided to undertake a special campaign to update the list of children getting vaccination in the state by January next year.

Further, senior officials, including the principal secretary and mission director of NRHM have been made nodal officers for ten most low-performing districts in order to improve their coverage under routine immunisation (RI).

As per the annual health survey for last year, the full immunisation coverage of the state was 45.3 per cent against the national average of 61 per cent. The current year has been declared the year for intensification of routine immunisation under which Uttar Pradesh celebrated four Routine Immunisation Weeks in June, July, August and September.

As a result, the monitoring analysis report, prepared by partner agencies of the state government including WHO and UNICEF for the month of September, claims that the full immunisation of the state has shot up to 63.4 per cent. In order to improve it further, the state health department has decided to take several steps in the months of December and January.

Addressing the problem of left out children in vaccination drives, the department has asked district health officials to send in the list of children with ASHAs in each district by November 30. As per statistical analysis, ASHA workers in the state, at any given point of time, should have 30 to 35 infants for vaccination.

The due list of ASHAs have been categorised as those having less than ten children, 10 to 20 children, 20 to 30 children, and 30 to 40 children and above on their due list.

The campaign, to take place in 53 districts in December and remaining 22 districts in January, would make sure that those ASHAs leaving out children in their area update their list.

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