Context
Mission Indradhanush marks the Centre’s commitment to building a healthy India
Focus on initial 5 years
Author, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India, states that the highest attainable standards of health in terms of physical, mental and social well-being is not only a fundamental right of every human being, but also a prerequisite for the economic and social development of a nation
- Improved cognition: The highest possible physical and mental development can only be attained by investing in the initial five years of a person’s life as this ensures survival with improved cognition
- Initial 5 years of life: The Ministry of Health &Family Welfare (MoHFW) is therefore working towards ensuring the most productive life for a person by specifically focussing on the initial five years of life
What we have achieved and what more needs to be done?
So, author states that, on the 68th Republic Day, let us reflect on what we have achieved and what more needs to be done
Progress in Public health
India should take pride in its progress in public health. Following successes mark India’s dedication to ensuring its people remain healthy and productive
- Increase in Life expectancy: Life expectancy has increased from 63.5 to 67.9 during the last decade; through 2009 to 2015
- Decrease in MMR: The maternal mortality rate has decreased from 212 deaths per 100,000 live births to 167 deaths
- Decrease in IMR: Infant mortality rate has decreased from 50 to 37 deaths per 1,000 live births
- Eradication of Polio
- Elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus
Challenges India continues to face
Author states that as our country moves towards achieving its aspirations of better health, one of the biggest challenges we continue to face is
- High child death and disability
Mission Indradhanush (MI)
Major cause of child death are childhood diseases. Immunization is a powerful weapon against such diseases. To ensure that every child has access to immunization, MoHFW launched Mission Indradhanush (MI) in 2014
- The Mission Indradhanush, depicting 7 colors of the rainbow, targets to immunize all children against 7 vaccine preventable diseases namely
- Diphtheria
- Pertussis
- Tetanus
- Childhood Tuberculosis
- Polio
- Hepatitis B
- Measles
In addition to this, vaccines for following diseases are also being provided in selected states
- JE (Japanese Encephalitis)
- Hib (Haemophilusinfluenzae type B)
4 new vaccines have been added in the list taking the number of vaccines to 11 instead of initial 7
- Rotavirus
- Measles rubella (MR): Measles and rubella contribute significantly to India’s child mortality and morbidity. The MR vaccine protects children against measles as well as rubella. Protection from rubella is essential to prevent congenital rubella syndrome, which can cause blinding cataracts, deafness and heart disease
- Inactivated polio vaccine bivalent
- Japanese Encephalitis (for adults)
Note: As the number of vaccines have surpassed 7, so the program is set to be renamed in future
Goal of MI: To achieve more than 90 per cent full immunization coverage among children in the country by 2020
Achievements of MI
- Increased newborn care: Trainings offered to frontline workers are facilitating a higher number of institutional deliveries and increase in newborn care, in addition to immunisation
- Interface b/w people and health services: As health workers reach out to people in previously unaccessed and remote areas, MI has created an interface to connect populations with a wide range of health services and strengthened health systems in these areas
- Increase in immunization:Since the launch of MI in 2014, full immunisation coverage has increased by 5 per cent to 7 per cent
Significance of immunisation
Immunisation is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions, yielding a 44-fold return on investment
- Helps investment in human capital: Immunisation helps the country invest in human capital, contributing to future economic growth and reducing the economic burdens of hospitalization and treatment costs
- Lessons for strengthening of public health services:For instance, the lessons learned from the special immunisation campaign has contributed to strengthening other public health services, including deworming and diarrhoea control
