Child immunisation rate poor in Ludhiana district

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, April 9

In what appears to be a cause for concern for the infant healthcare, almost 27 per cent of the children aged 12 to 23 months have not yet been fully vaccinated in Ludhiana, a national survey has revealed.

What was more disturbing is the fact that the number of fully vaccinated children as per vaccination cards available, those who have received BCG, polio, DPT, MCV, and Hepatitis-B vaccine has come down drastically in the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, during the past five years.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), conducted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, has showed that 73.2 per cent children aged 12 to 23 months were fully vaccinated based on the information available from vaccination cards or mother’s recall.

The infant vaccination coverage has increased negligibly from 72.3 per cent in 2015-16 to 73.2 per cent in 2020-21, the survey has found.

The survey, fifth in the NFHS series, which provides information on population, health and nutrition for India and each state and Union Territory, with district-level estimates for many important indicators, a copy of which is with The Tribune, indicated that the coverage of children aged 12 to 23 months fully vaccinated based on information available from vaccination cards only has come down from 90.7 per cent in 2015-16 to 79.8 per cent in 2020-21.

Similarly, the coverage of BCG vaccination had dipped from 94.6 per cent in 2015-16 to 91.1 per cent in 2020-21, those who have received three doses of polio vaccine has decreased from 81.6 per cent to 74.4 per cent, DPT vaccine from 88.1 per cent to 79.6 per cent, first dose of MCV from 82.5 per cent to 79.7 per cent, and the infants have received Hepatitis-B vaccine has fell down from 81.9 per cent in 2015-16 to 79.6 per cent in 2020-21.

However, on a positive side, the number of children aged 9 to 35 months, who have received a Vitamin-A dose in the last 6 months has gone up substantially from 47.6 per cent in 2015-16 to 72.1 per cent in 2020-21.

While the count of children aged 12 to 23 months vaccinated in public health facilities has increased from 80.2 per cent in 2015-16 to 82.9 per cent in 2020-21, the number of infants vaccinated at the private clinics has decreased from 19.9 per cent in 2015-16 to 14.1 per cent in 2020-21.

The survey also mentioned that only 19.6 per cent children aged 24 to 35 months have received their second dose of MCV while 73.6 per cent children aged 12 to 23 months have received their three doses of Rotavirus vaccine.

ABOUT THE SURVEY

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had designated the IIPS, Mumbai, as the nodal agency to conduct NFHS-5. The main objective of each successive round of the NFHS has been to provide high-quality data on health and family welfare and emerging issues in this area.

About The Author

Tribune News Service

The Tribune News Service brings you the latest news, analysis and insights from the region, India and around the world. Follow the Tribune News Service for a wide-ranging coverage of events as they unfold, with perspective and clarity.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.