Nagaland minister of health and family welfare (H&FW), Imkong L Imchen, officially launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) in the state at Urban Primary Health Centre, Seikhazou here Monday.
Through IMI, the Government of India aims to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme. The special drive will focus on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December 2018.
In his address, Imchen said IMI was initiated by the central government with the objective of safeguarding and preventing preventable diseases at an early age through immunization.
In this regard, he stressed the importance of propagating and educating parents especially in the rural areas the benefit and purpose of IMI.
Appreciating the H&FW department for its tireless effort to immunize all the children in the state, the minister urged the department to be one of the best performing states in the country in immunization programme.
The minister also acknowledged the principal secretary, principal director and subordinate officers of the department for their support in implementing the programme across the state. Imchen also urged the media and all stakeholders to work in close association with each other in order to sensitize, and create awareness in both urban and rural areas with special emphasis on rural and remote areas.
Emphasising the importance of creating awareness, he asked the media persons to widely disseminate its importance and the necessity to get vaccinated against all the preventable diseases.
Imchen said immunization was the most effective and cheapest means of treatment as the cost of treatment becomes too expensive after a person has already been inflicted due to non-immunization at young age.
Pointing out that IMI was planned to be launched on October 8, 2017, the minister, however, said that October 8 being Sunday and Nagaland being a Christian state, he decided to launch it on October 9, 2017.
Even in future, he said there would be no official programme on Sundays unless the programme was “extra ordinary important”.
Principal secretary, H&FW, Menukhol John, who led the launching programme, said the department has been giving its concerted efforts in order to get children fully immunized. He said the officers of the department were all engaged and monitoring IMI activities including head count, recording name, date of birth, sex identification and others.
The department officials, colony chairman and a host of villagers attended the launching programme.
According to the plan, states will conduct IMI drives for 7 working days from 7th day of every month starting from October 7, 2017 for four consecutive months excluding Sundays, holidays and Routine Immunization days. A total of 118 districts, 17 urban areas and 52 districts of North East states will be targeted under Intensified Mission Indradhanush.
Four phases of Mission Indradhanush have been completed in 528 districts across the country. More than 2.47 crore children and around 67 lakh pregnant women have been vaccinated under Mission Indradhanush so far. The first two phases of Mission Indradhanush led to an increase of 6.7% full immunization coverage in 1 year as compared to 1% increase in the past. This increase has been more prominent in rural areas as compared to urban areas.