SHILLONG: Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills District, Sanjay Goyal launched the Mission Indradhanush at Ganesh Das Hospital here on Tuesday.
Mission Indradhanush, depicting the seven colours of the rainbow, aims to immunize all children against seven vaccine preventable diseases namely diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B by 2020.
It may be mentioned that based on a comprehensive risk analysis, 201 high focus districts have been identified in the country that account for nearly 50 per cent of all partially vaccinated or unvaccinated children. East Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya also features among the 201 districts and has 9217 partially vaccinated or unvaccinated children.
Speaking on the occasion, Goyal said that it is the duty of all parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated on time. He also urged the medical officers and staff to ensure that the partially vaccinated or unvaccinated children in the district are fully immunized.
District Medical & Health Officer, Dr. R M Lamare, said that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched the Mission with the objective of reaching out to children through targeted interventions.
She added that as part of the mission four Intensified Routine Immunization phases are recommended every month between April-July 2015 involving all health workers particularly ANMs for a period of seven days to ensure high coverage.
