Union Government launched Special Vaccination Programme in High-Risk Areas

The Union Government on 2 May 2013 had launched its four-week special immunisation programme in high-risk areas across the country. The vaccination sessions, is planned to be held for a week each in June, July and August 2013.

The vaccination Programme is launched in a bid to promote vaccination. The Government is Encouraging state and development partners to focus on vaccines that are provided free of cost under the Universal Immunisation Programme.

Despite the fact that full immunisation prevents approximately 4 lakh deaths from vaccine preventable diseases in the under-five category every year, but with an astonishing figure revealed by Government it was found that around 75 lakh children miss childhood vaccinations each year. So, in that sense globally, every fifth child is not immunised.

It is important here to note that the first special immunisation week, which took place from April 24-30, was organised in collaboration with Unicef.

The government has declared the year 2012-13 as the Year of intensification of routine immunisation. Intensification efforts saw the expansion of the Pentavalent vaccine to six more states, after Tamil Nadu and Kerala.The pentavalent vaccine protects children from Hib pneumonia and Hib meningitis in addition to diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and Hepatitis B.