lack of awareness about vaccination remains to be a matter of concern in Odisha when it has a high under-five infant mortality rate (IMR) at 66 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The full immunisation coverage rate for children under-five years of age in Odisha is 68.8 per cent and 0.8 per cent of the children of same age group did not receive any vaccination, according to Sample Registration Survey 2013.
The reasons behind low coverage are many. While approximately seven per cent of the respondents to the Coverage Evaluation Survey (CES) 2009 based out of Odisha did not feel the need for immunisation, a whopping 38.5 per cent of respondents did not know about vaccines.
Inconvenient timings, lack of awareness among parents and fear of side-effects were cited as the other primary reasons for low immunisation coverage in the State. Moreover, according to the Annual Health Survey (2012-13), 25.4 per cent children suffered from ARI.
According to the survey, one of the biggest killers of children in India is
Pneumonia, which is responsible for about 29 of deaths among children ages 1-59 months. A key component of prevention is vaccination.
The Mission Indradhanush (MI) campaign launched on December 25, 2014 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is focused on preventing and controlling seven vaccine-preventable diseases. The initiative aims to expand full immunisation coverage for these seven vaccines from 65 per cent in 2014 to at least 90 per cent by 2020.
So far, 33 per cent of high focus districts in Odisha have been covered under phase 1 of the MI. The MI would be expanded to all other medium focus districts under phase 2.