CIVIL SERVICES CLUB

Current Affairs 100

CSFC - 2023
Civil Services Foundation Course

Intensified Mission Indradhanush 4.0

Relevance- For Prelims: Government Schemes in news, types of vaccines and

associated diseases; For Mains: GS-2- Issues related to health, Government
Interventions

Why in news?
 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recently launched the
Intensified Mission Indra dhanush (IMI) 4.0.

About IMI 4.0

 It will ensure that Routine Immunization (RI) services reach the
unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children and pregnant women.
 The targeted districts have been identified based on vaccination coverage
as per the latest National Family Health Survey-5 report, Health
Management Information System (HMIS) data and burden of vaccine
preventable diseases.
 During the same event, the Health Ministry also launched the IMI 4.0
portal.

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About Intensified Mission Indradhanush

 It was launched by the Government of India to reach each and every
child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have
been left uncovered under the routine immunization programme.
 The special drive focused on improving immunization coverage in select
districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by
December 2018.
IMI 2.0
 It was launched to ensure reaching the unreached with all available
vaccines and accelerate the coverage of children and pregnant women in
the identified districts and blocks from December 2019-March 2020.
 It aimed to achieve targets of full immunization coverage in 272
districts in 27 States and at the block level (652 blocks) in Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar among hard-to-reach and tribal populations.
IMI 3.0
 It was conducted in two rounds and covered 250 districts or urban
areas across 29 States or Union Territories.
 It aimed to provide immunization to pregnant women and children free of
cost in India.
 This mission also aimed to reach the unreached population.

History of Immunization programme in India

 The Immunization Programme in India was introduced in 1978 as the
‘Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) by the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare, Government of India.
 In 1985, the programme was modified as the ‘Universal Immunization
Programme’ (UIP) to be implemented in a phased manner to cover all
districts in the country by 1989-90 with the one of the largest health
programmes in the world.

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 To strengthen and re-energize the programme and achieve full

immunization coverage for all children and pregnant women at a rapid
pace, the Government of India launched “Mission Indradhanush” in
December 2014.

Mission Indradhanush
 It aims to cover all those children who are either unvaccinated, or are
partially vaccinated against vaccine preventable diseases.
 Under Mission Indradhanush, all vaccines under Universal
Immunization Program (UIP) are provided as per National Immunization
Schedule.
 It was also identified as one of the flagship schemes under Gram Swaraj
Abhiyan and Extended Gram Swaraj Abhiyan.

Diseases covered under India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP)

 The UIP provides free vaccines against 12 life-threatening diseases, to 26

million children annually.
 The Universal Immunization Programme provides life-saving vaccines to
all children across the country free of cost to protect them against-
Diphtheria, Pertussis,Tuberculosis, Tetanus, Polio, Hepatitis B,
Pneumonia and Meningitis due to Haemophilus Influenzae type b (Hib),
Measles, Rubella, Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Rotavirus diarrhea.
(Rubella, JE and Rotavirus vaccine in select states and districts).

Phases under the Indradhanush Mission

 Phase I was started as a weeklong special intensified immunization drive

from 7th April 2015 in 201 high focus districts for four consecutive
months.

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 Phase II of Mission Indradhanush covered 352 districts in the country of

which 279 are medium focus districts and the remaining 73 are high
focus districts of Phase-I.
 Phase III of Mission Indradhanush was launched from 7 April 2016
covering 216 districts.
 Phase IV was launched from 7 February 2017 covering the North-eastern
states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. It was rolled out in the rest of the country
during April 2017.

Accomplishments so far

 As of April 2021, during the various phases of Mission Indradhanush, a

total of 3.86 crore children and 96.8 lakh pregnant women have been
vaccinated.
 The first two phases of Mission Indradhanush resulted in 6.7% increase
in full immunisation coverage in a year.
o A survey (IMI- CES) carried out in 190 districts covered in
Intensified Mission Indradhanush (5th Phase of Mission
Indradhanush) shows 18.5% points increase in full immunisation
coverage as compared to National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4.
 The Full Immunisation Coverage among children aged 12-23 months of
age has increased from 62% (NFHS-4) to 76.4%(NFHS-5).

Way Forward

 Role of vaccines in public health is clear after the roll out of nation-wide
COVID-19 vaccination drive and subsequent drop in caseload.
 The need of “Sabka Prayas” and “Jan Lok Bhaagidaari” to achieve the
goal of universal immunisation in the country must be emphasised.

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 Only with the collective and collaborative efforts of the Centre, the States
and beneficiaries shall we be able to achieve the target of full
immunization coverage in the country and they must work holistically at
different levels, coordinating with district administration, panchayats
and the urban local bodies.

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