Mission Indradhanush was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India on December 25, 2014.
Objective
- Aims to cover all those children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated, or are partially vaccinated against 7 vaccine preventable diseases
- The diseases are – diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B
How is the government going about the implementation?
- Implementation will be done in phases in a “catch up” mode – the aim is to cover all the children who have been left out or missed out for immunization
- Technically supported by WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International and other donor partners
- Phase 1 targets 201 districts | Phase 2 targets 352 districts
- The first round of the first phase started from 7 April 2015-World Health Day
- What’s interesting about the Phase 1 districts? These 201 high focus districts in the country have nearly 50% of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children!
- Out of the 201 districts, 82 districts are in just four states of UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
What are the 4 pillars of strategy for Mission Indradhanush?
#1. Meticulous planning of campaigns/sessions at all levels
- Within the districts, the Mission will focus on the 400,000 high risk settlements identified by the polio eradication programme
- 400,000 high risk settlements include urban slums, construction sites, brick kilns, nomadic sites and hard-to-reach areas
- Such a planning needs a timely revision of micro plans in all blocks and urban areas in each district to ensure availability of sufficient vaccinators & vaccines
#2. Effective communication and social mobilization efforts
- Generate awareness and demand for immunization services through need-based communication strategies and social mobilization activities
- Use of mass media, mid media, interpersonal communication (IPC), school and youth networks and corporates
#3. Intensive training of the health officials and frontline workers
- Capacity building has been the core of any social sector scheme and this just reinforces the point #1
#4. Establish accountability framework through task forces
- Strengthening the district task forces for immunization in all districts
- Ensuring the use of concurrent session monitoring data to plug the gaps in implementation on a real time basis
- Collaboration with other Ministries, ongoing programmes and international partners to promote a coordinated and synergistic approach
For current updates, follow our story on – Mission Indradhanush – 100% health immunization coverage by 2020