LG, H&ME team working hard to ensure success of campaign: Sharma
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Mayor of Jammu city, Rajinder Sharma on Monday started the State-wide vaccination campaign Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 5.0 at Government Hospital Gandhi Nagar along with Bhupinder Kumar, Secretary Health and Medical Education Department and Dr. Rajeev Kumar Sharma, Director Health Services (DHS) Jammu.
A large number of missed/dropout children of 0-5 years age group and pregnant women from Jammu slums were vaccinated with due vaccine doses and their digital immunization certificates were downloaded at the vaccination centre and were handed over to them.
The campaign was a part of nationwide programme to vaccinate the pregnant women and children up to the age of five and it has been started in other parts of the country also.
Speaking on the occasion Mayor Rajinder Sharma highlighted the importance of IMI 5.0.
He told reporters that pregnant women and small children up to the age of 5 shall be administered vaccines under this programme and arrangements are made that no child is left without the vaccination.
“The campaign is going on under the directions of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha and Secretary Health and Medical Education along with the team of doctors, nurses and other staff which is working hard to ensure success of this campaign so that our children may have a healthy future,” Mayor Rajinder Sharma continued.
Many ladies visited the hospital with their children and got them vaccinated.
Secretary H&ME lauded this special initiative in which all the districts of J&K have identified their due beneficiaries by conducting head count surveys after visiting each household, each slum and nomadic population.
Secretary H&ME briefed the media about the importance of this unique IMI 5.0 wherein such missed/dropout beneficiaries (0-5 yrs old children & pregnant women) shall be vaccinated in campaign mode which will be done in three rounds (7-12 August, 11-16 September & 9-14 October).
Another focus area was elimination of Measles-Rubella disease from India by December 2023 which will be achieved by this special IMI 5.0 campaign.
Approximately 52000 children and pregnant women have been found due for vaccines.
The Secretary briefed that earlier Mission Indradhanush campaigns used to be conducted in low performing districts of immunization but this time all the districts and all the blocks are being covered.
He further elaborated that this time U-WIN portal has been launched through which all the entries including registration, vaccination and digital immunization certificate generation will be done by entering the phone number of beneficiaries which will help health staff as well as parents of the children to know about their due doses.
With this feature, even ASHA workers of the village and ANMs will have digital due list and individual beneficiaries will receive SMS alerts reminding them of next due doses and acknowledgement of the same.
This will help all the population importantly nomadic and migratory population to keep on moving from one place to other.
“With this, we hope to achieve 100 % immunization coverage which is already 94-95 % in our J&K UT,” he maintained.
Others present on the occasion were Dr. Parveen Yograj, Medical Superintendent Govt Hospital Gandhi Nagar Jammu; Dr Poonam Sethi, Assistant Director Family Welfare MCH & Immunization Jammu; Dr Shahid Hussain, SEPIO J&K; Dr Isha Chalotra, SPO UNDP J&K; Dr Azmat Khan, SMO WHO Jammu; Rakesh Sharma, SMEMO J&K and other officers and officials.