Mission Indradhanush To Cover Ten Priority Districts In Odisha Including Home District Of CM Naveen Patnaik In the First Phase
By B.Maharana
02 April, Bhubaneswar
The Mission Indradhanush will be conducted in ten high focus districts in Odisha including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s home district- Ganjam in the first phase as an estimated over three lakh children are still out of the immunization coverage in the state.
An estimated 60 percent of the total children in Ganjam District are unvaccinated according to latest official data.
The mission aims at improving immunization coverage in the country from current 65 per cent to over 90 percent and savce children from 7 deadly diseases , will cover Ganjam ,Boudh ,Gajapati Kandhamal, , Khurda , Koraput , Malkangiri, Nabaragapur, Nuapada and Rayagada in the first phase .
Special camps will be held in these districts for a week from April 7 state Health and family Welfare Director Dr,Nirmala Dei told newsmen here Thursday..
The first phase will comprise of four campaigns with a gap of at least four weeks between two campaigns .
The special camps for Indradhanush vaccine will be targeting to immunize all the partially or unimmunized children in the ten districts.
The Mission depicting seven colors of rainbow , targets to immunize all children against seven vaccine preventable diseases like polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, childhood tuberculosis, measles and Hepatitis B.
The focus of the Campaign under Mission Indradhaanush will be on 201 high focus districts across the country in the first phase. The districts are targeted for Indradhanush vaccine scheme on the basis of lower percentage of vaccination between 29 to 60 Percent.
According to Dr.Dei, while the lowest 29.6 percent children have been vaccinated in tribal dominated Malkangiri district, 38.6 in Gajapati, 39 per cent in Rayagada, 54 per cent in Boudh, 40.8 per cent in Kandhamal, 60 percent in Khurda, 51.6 in Koraput, 50.4 per cent in Nabarangpur , 50.4 percent in Nuapada.
She said that while the infant mortality rae in Odisha is 40 in 1000 birth , the children under 5 mortality rates is 52 in 1000 .
All arrangements are being made in Anganwadi centres, primary health centres and vaccine centres to give vaccination to children and tetanus vaccine injections to pregnant mothers. She said.
Special immunization campaigns will be conducted in the high risk areas like urban slums , nomadic sites, brick kilns , construction sites , fisherman villages , she said.