Intense' immunisation drive for Malappuram

KOZHIKODE: Malappuram is the only district in the state to come under the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) programme to be rolled out in October by the Union health ministry. The objective is to target the children under five  who were left out of the Mission Indradhanush (MI) programme for immunisation in 2015. 

The IMI was drafted to achieve 90 per cent immunisation rate by 2018.  As many as 187 districts across the country were identified and Malappuram falls in the priority districts’ category. There are close to 26,000 children in the district who will come under the programme. “22,000 children are partially immunised and there is another 4,000 who were not vaccinated at all,” said Malappuram district RCH (reproductive and child health) officer Dr R. Renuka. Areas such as Kuttipuram, Valavannur, Vettam, Malappuram and  Manjeri municipality limits show cold response to immunisation. 

The drive will be spread over  seven  working days starting from  October  7 for four months.  The IMI would be reviewed by the cabinet secretary at the national level. The MI piloted in Malappuram  had fetched 50 per cent result in the first phase, but it slipped to mere four  per cent and 2.5 per cent in the subsequent phases. “We had achieved close to 90 per cent under the MI. But the failure in data entry and  shortage of staff according to the population came as a big hindrance,” said Ms Renuka.

She said  that a junior public health nurse in Malappuram has to deal with 8,000-10,000 population whereas the standard format is 1:5,000.  The district RCH officer and NRHM programme manager were recently invited to New Delhi to brief them about the significance of the programme.