Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI 5.0) Campaign

Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI 5.0) Campaign

Important for Prelims exams:

Mission Indradhanush, Intensified Mission Indradhanush (2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0), U-WIN Digital Platform, Measles and Rubella, Universal Immunization Program (UIP)

Important for Mains exams:

GS-3: Major policies and initiatives of the government in the field of health

October 13, 2023

Why in News:

• Recently, the fifth phase of the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI 5.0) campaign was concluded by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which was a major routine vaccination drive.
• This mission was launched on August 7, 2023 in major states of the country including Uttar Pradesh.

Intensive Mission Indradhanush 5.0

Introduction:

• IMI 5.0 campaign was conducted in all the States/UTs of the country except Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Punjab in three phases from 7-12 August, 11-16 September and 9-14 October 2023, i.e. 6 days in a month.
• The mission ensures to provide routine vaccination services to left-out children and pregnant women across the country.
• This year, the vaccination drive covers all districts and children up to 5 years, whereas previous drives targeted children up to 2 years.
• IMI 5.0 campaign aims to improve vaccination coverage for all vaccines provided under the Universal Immunization Program (UIP) as per the National Immunization Schedule (NIS).
• Focus is on improving measles and rubella vaccination coverage to achieve measles and rubella elimination by 2023.
• Additionally, U-WIN digital platform has been operationalized for routine vaccination in all the districts of the country.
• Measles: Measles is a viral infection that spreads very easily from one person to another. It is caused by a single-stranded, enveloped RNA virus with only one serotype.
• The measles virus infects only humans, making them the only natural host for the disease.
• Rubella: Rubella is a disease caused by RUV virus. This condition causes skin irritation, mild fever and many other symptoms. It spreads easily from one person to another.

About Mission Indradhanush:

• On 25 December 2014, Mission Indradhanush was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Under the Universal Immunization Program (UIP), a special catch-up campaign is conducted in areas with low immunization coverage to vaccinate all those children and pregnant women who were missed or excluded from routine immunization.
• The task of achieving full vaccination coverage is being accomplished by an integrated and committed task force.
• Since 2014, 11 phases of Mission Indradhanush have been launched across the country. So far, during the ongoing 12th phase, more than 5.06 crore children and 1.25 crore pregnant women have been vaccinated under the initiative.

Objective:

• Mission Indradhanush aims to ensure high coverage of children and pregnant women with all available vaccines across the country.
• Universal Immunization Program provides free life-saving vaccines to all children across the country. These vaccines protect them from diseases like tuberculosis, polio, hepatitis B, pneumonia, meningitis, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, rubella, Japanese encephalitis (JE) and rotavirus diarrhea (Rubella, JE).
• Note: India's vaccination program is one of the largest public health initiatives globally. Originally launched as the Expanded Program on Immunization in 1978, it was renamed the Universal Immunization Program in 1985 when it expanded beyond urban areas.
• The ministry is receiving technical assistance from WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International and other donor partners.

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Mains Exam Question

Intensive Mission Indradhanush (IMI) was a strategic effort launched by the Government of India, discuss.