State-wide vaccination mission Indradhanush to save lives of children through vaccination was launched from Vidisha district to mark World Health Day on Tuesday. Mission Indradhanush will be conducted in phases of one week each. Under it, children upto two years of age and pregnant women will be vaccinated against deadly diseases. Campaign’s second phase will commence from May 7, third from June 7 and fourth from July 7 for 7 days each. Campaign to dispel misgivings about lifesaving vaccinations against diphtheria, chronic cold, tetanus, polio, TB, small pox and Hepatitis-B will also be undertaken on State level.
Health Minister Mishra while launching the mission at Vidisha distributed vaccination cards as a token to five children. The Minister said that special attention is being paid to health in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Patients are getting free medicines, pathological tests, nutritious diet and transport facilities in government hospitals. Percentage of vaccination is 66.4 per cent in the State against national average of 65 per cent. Now, strategy has been chalked out to achieve 100 per cent target under it. He said that success will surely be achieved in meeting this target with the cooperation of public representatives.
Revenue Minister Rampal Singh said that Vidisha is among 15 districts of the state where vaccination is being undertaken through campaign. Principal Secretary Health Praveer Krishna informed about Mission Indradhanush. He informed that special responsibilities have been entrusted to ANMs through Mother and Child Tracking System. Vaccines are administered at Gram Arogya Kendra level every Tuesday and Friday.
Despite this, some children remain deprived of vaccination for some reasons. Mission Indradhanush is an important medium for safeguarding lives of these left out children. At the outset, ADM Anju Pawan Bhadoria welcomed the guests. Apart from prominent public representatives of Vidisha district, Health Commissioner Pankaj Agrawal, UNICEF Consultant Dr Vandana Bhatia, State Vaccination Officer Dr Santosh Shukla were also present at launch of the mission. Dr Deepti Shukla conducted the function.
Government of India has selected 201 districts of the country for Mission Indradhanush including 15 top priority districts of Madhya Pradesh – Alirajpur, Anuppur, Chhatarpur, Damoh, Jhabua, Mandla, Panna, Raisen, Sagar, Rewa, Satna, Tikamgarh, Shahdol, Umaria and Vidisha. The State Government is also paying attention to vaccination in the remaining districts.