So far 39 lakh children in Punjab vaccinated under campaign against Measles-Rubella

Chandigarh, May 30: So far 39 lakh children in Punjab have been vaccinated in the ongoing State-wide Vaccination Campaign against Measles-Rubella. Notably, the Vaccination Campaign against Measles-Rubella was kicked-off on 1st of May this year from Punjab’s Faridkot district as a part of a National strategy to eliminate Measles and control Rubella in the country.

 

Disclosing this on Tuesday, the Health and Family Welfare Minister of Punjab Brahm Mohindra said that despite all the initial hiccups, the success of this campaign can be gauged from the fact that, in 28 days of its launching around 39 lacs children have been administered the MR vaccine.

He said that whole Health paraphernalia stood up to the occasion and worked tirelessly to sensitize the general public especially the parents and teachers to achieve the desire result by bringing children forward for the MR vaccination. He said that till date we are more than satisfied that MR vaccination is moving forward to achieve its target as on 28 days of the launching of this campaign we have been able to administer MR vaccination around 39 lacs children.

Giving details about the arrangements made by the health department, the Minister said that in order to ensure coverage of more than 70 lacs children, Punjab Government has been deployed 5200 vaccination teams having 3 members in each team and 1733 supervisors to cover about 29000 schools conducting nearly 59000 vaccination sessions across the state. He said that about 5200 vaccinators, nearly 19000 ASHAs and 25000 Anganwadi Workers have been trained and so far, teachers from about 29000 schools have also been sensitized about the campaign.

Health Minister said that Measles is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. “An estimated nearly 49,000 children die from measles annually, making it one of the leading causes of child deaths in India,” he concluded.

BACKGROUND:

The State-wide Vaccination Campaign against Measles-Rubella was kicked-off on 1ST May from Punjab’s Faridkot district as a part of a National strategy to eliminate Measles and control Rubella in the country. During the mega campaign, around 75 lakh children aged between 9 months to 15 years will be vaccinated.

Importantly, MR vaccine is safe and administered worldwide under Routine Immunization program as well as through MR vaccination campaigns. MR vaccine is also used for the campaign is a WHO prequalified vaccine, produced under stringent and highly supervised conditions by Serum Institute of India which is one of the largest vaccine manufacturers and exporters globally with its vaccines used all over the world including American and European nations.

Already 3 phases of MR vaccination Campaign have been completed in 13 states covering around 7-8 crore children with this vaccine safely while Punjab is being covered in Phase 4.

Measles can be prevented by immunizing children with two doses of measles vaccine, which is safe and effective. Also Rubella is another infectious yet mild viral illness affecting both children and adults that can cause death and disabilities in the new-born if an unprotected pregnant woman gets infected with rubella virus in early pregnancy. Rubella virus has the potential to cause abortions, stillbirths and severe birth defects known as congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), including deafness and blindness in the new-born child.