TURA: South West Garo Hills District Task Force on Immunization (DTFI) held a meeting at Ampati on Friday afternoon to draw up plan of action for Measles Rubella Vaccination Campaign which will begin from September 24 next. In order to make the campaign a success for eliminating measles and rubella diseases from the district, the District Task Force members have decided to take upon themselves the responsibility of monitoring the campaign with the support of community leaders, social and religious organizations.
The target is to cover 60,000 children in the age group of 9 months to below 15 years through routine immunization, which is one-third of the total population in the district. As most of the children in this age group are school students, the first two weeks of vaccination would be carried out in schools and all schools have been asked to ensure attendance of children during the period.
The meeting was held in the presence of Deputy Commissioner & Chairman, DTFI, Ramkumar S., who called for intensive campaign in problem areas in view of high infant mortality rates in certain parts of the district. He also sought for feedback from the participants in the recent workshop on measles rubella vaccination campaign to ensure that officials of the concerned line departments are aware and well equipped in their respective roles for carrying the campaign forward smoothly.
It may be mentioned that Measles is an acute viral infection of the respiratory system and is one of the main causes of infant mortality, while Rubella also known as German Measles is an infection caused by Rubella virus. Both the diseases can be prevented only through vaccination
After polio, MRVC is going to be the biggest and the most intensive campaign in the State.
DMHO, Ampati, Dr. K.A. Sangma in her keynote address highlighted the importance of MRVC for eliminating measles and rubella diseases and expressed hope that the campaign would help to bring down infant mortality rate in the district. She also appealed to all the members of the DTFI to take their respective roles seriously for the success of the campaign, while the SDMO, Ampati & District Immunization Officer, Dr. C.K. Sangma gave a presentation on measles rubella diseases and the vaccination campaign for their eradication and also highlighted the role of DTFI in carrying forward the vaccination campaign smoothly.
The meeting discussed vaccination strategies, role of DTFI members which is to support, supervise and monitor the vaccination campaign and also problems and challenges to be faced during the campaign. It also discussed the need for having awareness programmes and series of orientation and sensitization meetings at various levels considering the magnitude of the campaign wherein all communities, institutions and organizations would be involved.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner, Ramkumar S. stressed on the presence of doctors/medical officers in all PHCs and CHCs during OPDs and has asked the Health officials in the district to avoid holding of meetings on week days. He also suggested for having PHC and CHC wise review meetings so as to streamline the functioning of these centres.