Mumbai: Under the Intensified Special Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 5.0, the BMC will vaccinate 2,638 children in the age group of 0-5 years and 304 pregnant mothers between August 7 and 12. The campaign will focus on reaching zero-dose children and pregnant women who might have missed any vaccine doses in the national immunisation schedule.
To be launched on a pan-India level, the drive will be conducted in three phases; August 7-12, September 11-16 and October 9-14. Banking on successful implementation of IMI 5.0, the central government has set a target to eradicate measles and rubella by December.
BMC's house-to-house survey
In the same regard, the BMC recently conducted a house-to-house survey and zeroed in on the kids and soon-to-be-mothers, who will be inoculated in August. For a wider reach, the public health department organised meetings of the division action committee.
BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal also discussed the plan with the representatives of National Integrated Child Development Project, Department of Education, Indian Association of Paediatrics, World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, UNDP.
BMC to take help from influential people
He said that they will take help from influential people in the society to persuade people reluctant to vaccination. “All health workers have undergone a total of 265 training sessions for successful implementation of the mission,” he said.
Learning from last year's measles outbreak, a micro action plan has been prepared for seven risk areas. To keep the disease at bay, Anganwadi workers will be involved in the Integrated Child Development Project. The campaign will be supervised by the WHO.
