UNICEF in association with the Health Department, Jharkhand Government organised state-level routine immunisation media workshop to highlight the importance of immunisation. The workshop focused on two vital ongoing programmes of Government of India which includes Mission Indradhanush and introduction of Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV) in Jharkhand.
IPV will be introduced in all the 24 districts of Jharkhand from February 2016. IPV has already been introduced into routine vaccination programme in several states in India. Any child between 14 weeks and one year of age, coming for third dose of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to the session site is eligible for IPV injection. A child is considered to be fully immunized if he or she has received a primary series of at least three doses of IPV, live OPV or four doses of any combination of IPV and OPV. IPV consists of inactivated poliovirus types and is given as injectable vaccine.
Citing details about IPV, Dr. Ajit Prasad, Deputy Director of Health of UNICEF, informed, “IPV will be provided in all the government hospitals, dispensaries, Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs), sub-centres and outreach session sites. IPV is inject able vaccine and will not be given in a house to house campaign mode. The IPV vaccine further strengthens the immune system and provides protection by preparing children bodies to fight against the poliovirus. It will combat Polio 1 and Polio 3 virus.”
“Even after receiving IPV injection with the third dose of OPV and OPV booster doses in routine immunization, the child must be given OPV doses during pulse polio campaigns as well. IPV and OPV vaccines together will provide additional protection to the child and the community against polio. This will boost the child’s immunity and will continue to protect the child from various deadly diseases,” added Prasad.
Addressing people and giving the details of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Prasad further said, “To bring down the IMR up to 27/1000 life birth (lB), it is important to understand the importance of immunization. Approximately, 8.2 lakhs children are born in Jharkhand every year. With various schemes of Government of India we have achieved 86 percent success rate in vaccinating children and Mission Indradhanush have played a pivotal role in it.”
“Although India has been declared polio free, wild poliovirus is still present in neighbouring countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, thus polio virus can be imported by travelers across countries. Till such time as the poliovirus is not eradicated from all countries, the threat of re-emergence of polio remains high. Introducing IPV virus is an important step towards global eradication of polio which is being implemented in all countries,” said Prasad.
30 countries are already using IPV and OPV vaccines as part of their national immunization schedule. Another 126 countries including India will introduce at least one dose of IPV vaccine in their national immunization schedule shortly in all other States too.
On the other hand, Dr. Rahul Kapse of UNICEF explained about Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI), “AEFI is a very sensitive issue and must be taken care of it. AEFI includes all important aspects like cause of death of a child due to vaccination, sample of vaccines, various reports like postmortem report, lab reports and case labeled.”