BMC's mission to immunise deprived kids

Mumbai: To ensure immunisation of children deprived of vaccines, the BMC has started Mission Indradhanush under the Centre’s umbrella scheme to identify such kids in slums and isolated areas, at construction sites, and those who migrate to the every year. The first phase of the vaccination drive will start on October 9 with children below the age of five. The BMC has identified 175,877 kids of which, 90,550 are partially immunised while 964 are entirely without immunisation. The vaccination will be for polio, measles, hepatitis B, Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG), diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, mumps and rubella. Mission Indradhanush will make these children a priority in terms of vaccination.

Dr Chandrashekhar Chiplunkar, deputy health officer, told The Asian Age, “Our aim is to ensure that all children be immunised. Those below five years of age need to be immunised on a regular basis. We have conducted home-to-home surveys and tracked expecting mothers for routine immunisation. There would be four-phases and the first will start on October 9,” he said. Dr Paresh Kantharia from the WHO, who looks after irradiation of diseases and immunisation, said, “When the survey was conducted by the polio eradication programme, we got to know that some children had missed vaccination. Invariably, they were from slums and footpaths, whichs are identified as high-risk areas. Only 65 per cent of immunisation has been done while 35 per cent remains,” he said.