Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday stated that due to vaccination campaign under Mission Indradhanush has increased the number of vaccinated children between the age group of 12 months to 23 months by 14.4 per cent in 2021.
Mandaviya took to Twitter and mentioned, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always given priority to the health security of children. The vaccination campaign for children is also going on across the country through Mission Indradhanush. As a result of this, the number of vaccinated children has increased significantly."
He added findings of the National Family Health Survey -5 which stated that the number of vaccinated children in the age group of 12 months to 23 months in 2015-2016 was 62 per cent, which was 2019-21 is at 76.4 per cent.
This is an increase of 14.4 per cent in approximately four years.
The ultimate goal of Mission Indradhanush is to ensure full immunization with all available vaccines for children up to two years of age and pregnant women.
To further intensify the immunization programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) in 2017, which aimed to reach each and every child up to two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunization programme. The focus of the special drive was to improve immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90 per cent by December 2018.
To boost the routine immunization coverage in the country, the Government of India has introduced Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0 aimed to achieve targets of full immunization coverage in 272 districts in 27 states and at the block level (652 blocks) in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar among hard-to-reach and tribal populations.
Former Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0 in February 2021, Focusing on the children and pregnant women who missed their vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 4.0 in February 2022.
( With inputs from ANI )
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