Mission Indradhanush Scheme

Launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Mission Indradhanush (MI) focuses on expanding immunisation coverage to children across all socio-economic, cultural, and geographical spectrums of India. A team of integrated and committed task forces work together to achieve the colossal task of the mission. Every MI activation is intricately planned from deciding where camps must be set to identify the right vaccinations. Moreover, the Ministry is being supported by WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International, and other organisations.

Implementation of Mission Indradhanush

Through a "catch-up" campaign, Mission Indradhanush reaches out to children who aren't inoculated. Pregnant women are also provided with the tetanus vaccine, ORS packets, and zinc tablets. These supplies help the to-be moms deal with dehydration or diarrhoea. Moreover, vitamin A doses are administered for better immunity of the child.

Phase I

The phase started off as a week-long drive in 201 high-focus districts from April 7, 2015. Over 20 lakh pregnant women received the tetanus toxoid vaccine, and 75 lakh children were vaccinated. Out of these 75 lakh children, 20 lakh were fully immunised in this phase.

Phase II

Here, the mission covered 352 districts, out of which 279 are medium-focus districts, and the remaining 73 fall under the high-focus category of Phase-I. During Phase II, 4 week-long drives were conducted.

Phase III

This phase took off on April 7, 2016, and covered 216 districts. Four intensified immunisation rounds were held for 7 days. Along with children under the age of 2, Phase III also focused on 5-year-olds.

Basically, 28.7 lakh immunisation sessions were conducted in these 3 phases, which covered 2.1 crore children. Out of 2.1 crore children, 55 lakh kids were fully inoculated. Moreover, 55.9 lakh pregnant women received the tetanus toxoid vaccine. The full immunisation coverage has increased by 5-7 percent ever since Mission Indradhanush was launched.

Phase IV

This phase of the mission commenced on February 7, 2017, which covered North-Eastern states–Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim, Mizoram, and Meghalaya. It was rolled out in the rest of the country in April 2017. Mission Indradhanush reached over 2.53 crore children and 68 lakh pregnant women in these 4 phases.

Phase V

Mission Indradhanush reached out to the 190 lowest-performing districts.

 

At the end of the 6 phases, 554 districts across India were covered. According to the IMI-CES survey carried out in 190 districts covered in Intensified Mission Indradhanush, full immunisation coverage increased by 18.5% as compared to NFHS-4.

 

By the end of the 7 phases, 3.76 crore children and 94.6 pregnant women were immunised. As of January 2022, 10 phases of Mission Indradhanush have been completed.

Areas Under Focus

Let’s check out the areas targeted under Mission Indradhanush:

 

• The below points highlight the high-risk areas identified by the polio eradication program:

Urban slums with migration

 

Nomads

 

Construction sites

 

Brick kilns

 

Other migrants (fisherman villages, riverine areas with shifting populations, etc.)

 

Forested and tribal population

 

• Areas with low Routine Immunisation coverage

• Areas with vacant sub-centres

• Areas with missed Routine Immunisation sessions

• Small villages, purbas, hamlets, and dhanis

READ MORE: Government Health Schemes

Mission Indradhanush: Districts Covered

Here’s the number of districts covered in each phase of Mission Indradhanush:

 

Phase I: 201 districts

 

Phase II: 352 districts

 

Phase III: 216 districts

 

Phase IV: The fourth covered North-Eastern states from February 7, 2017, and expanded to the rest of the country from April 217.

 

Phase V: 190 low-performing districts

 

READ MORE: Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana

Conclusion

Vaccines enable you to build your kid’s immunity against chronic diseases that can even cause death. These diseases can especially be dreadful for people with a developing immune system (infants). India contributes to the largest pool of under-vaccinated kids globally. Moreover, one-third of vaccine-preventable deaths in the world come from here. And Mission Indradhanush is launched to bring these figures down! It is a national immunisation drive that aims at ensuring high coverage by strengthening the key functional areas of immunisation. It has been focusing on districts with low-immunisation coverage, i.e. areas where the percentage of children and pregnant women being vaccinated is low.

 

While vaccination can help you prevent certain diseases, many other health concerns can take you by surprise. To make matters worse, the cost of medical services has been soaring with each passing day. Hence, the government and insurance providers are also trying to make health insurance plans feasible and accessible. Though healthcare plans are not mandated by law, it is a basic need. So, head over to our ‘Health Insurance’ section and check out the range of policies available on Bajaj Markets. Thanks to our maximum coverage, efficient customer service, and affordable premiums, the plans available on the platform have earned goodwill in the market.

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