Principal Secretary Health Praveer Krishna here on Thursday clarified that no death has been caused in the State due to Pentavalent vaccine which save lives of children. It has come to the fore in the investigation into deaths of two children last month in two districts — Chhindwara and Ujjain that the vaccine was not cause of deaths as alleged, he added.
From vaccine storage point of view, Jabalpur, Gwalior and Morena have been considered as the best at both State and national level. The State has 957 vaccinators and 1205 cold chains where vaccines are stored as per prescribed norms. The Principal Secretary was addressing a media workshop on regular vaccination programme here on Thursday.
He informed that Pentavalent vaccine is administered thrice to save children from 5 diseases. It is used in most of the countries in the world. Madhya Pradesh is among 14 States where National Vaccination Programme has yielded good results. Since the state has implemented mother-child tracking system, every newly born child is registered and administered vaccines from time to time. About 15,000 health workers have been trained to administer Pentavalent vaccine. They were imparted one-month training with the cooperation of World Health Organisation.
The Principal Secretary said that vaccination saves lives of children and pregnant women. Sometimes, misconception and fear develops among people about vaccines. Newspapers, radio, TV channels and traditional mass media can help in removing this misgiving. He urged media persons to partner in disseminating correct information in the interest of society. Mission Director NHM Faiz Ahmad Kidwai also spoke on the occasion.
At the outset, UNICEF’s expert Dr Vandana Bhatia dwelt in detail about importance of vaccination. Deputy Director (Vaccination) Dr Santosh Shukla informed that apart from departmental officers, teams of World Health Organisation also visit districts to supervise vaccination work. Dr Shukla informed that side by side oral dose of pulse polio, process of administering its injection to children will also start from year 2015.