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Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Despite an encouraging start, Indore has fallen behind in the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccination campaign, with only 16.5 per cent of targeted children immunised over the past five months. The campaign, which began on a positive note with significant parental enthusiasm, managed to cover over 116k children in the first month. However, the momentum slowed and the numbers failed to double in the subsequent four months due to lack of interest from parents.
The government initiated this vaccination drive as a pilot project in the districts of Indore, Bhopal, Sagar and Narmadapuram. The campaign, targeting children aged 1 to 15 years, commenced on February 27 and by July 26, over 221,866 children had been vaccinated in Indore.
This campaign marks the second phase of a mega vaccination effort against the deadly vector-borne disease, following the first phase conducted in Raisen and Vidisha in 2023. Over the past five months, district health officials in Indore vaccinated more than 221k children within the targeted age group.
Health department sources attributed the lagging in progress to parental disinterest and lack of cooperation from schools, which have not been actively promoting the campaign. The department has sought support from the School Education Department to enhance the campaignís reach and effectiveness.
Dr Tarun Gupta, the district immunisation officer, stated that their target is to vaccinate 13.41 lakh children in Indore. 'We have vaccinated over 221k children at anganwadis, health centres and through various camps. We plan to intensify our efforts by collaborating with schools,' Dr Gupta said.
Japanese Encephalitis is a mosquito-borne disease transmitted from birds and pigs through mosquitoes, not from human to human. Vaccination remains the safest preventive measure. Initially, vaccination will be conducted at community levels across all centres before being integrated into the regular immunisation schedule.
Previously, children were protected against 11 diseases through vaccination, which has now increased to 12 with the inclusion of JE. Dr Gupta noted that the campaign received a good response during summer holidays from April to June, with parents actively bringing their children to health centres. However, the expected surge in participation after schools reopened in June did not materialise as anticipated.
Area Target Vaccination Target achieved (in %)
Hatod 102963 20931 20.3
Manpur 147354 21640 14.7
Sanwer 90675 24404 26.9
Depalpur 85260 15531 18.2
Sanyogitaganj 249020 51188 20.6
Malharganj 297270 38444 12.9
Hukumchand 102119 11504 11.3
Nandanagar 266926 38220 14.3
Total 1341587 221866 16.5
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