TURA: South West Garo Hills is said to have crossed the 90 percent mark in Measles-Rubella Vaccination Campaign (MRVC), having vaccinated more than 54,400 children out the district target of 59232 till date, even as outreach sessions are on in full swing after completion of vaccination sessions in the schools.
As on 31.10.2018 district coverage stood at 91.84 percent which is highest among the districts in Garo Hills region.
Out of 10 health facilities in the district, six have already achieved 100 per cent coverage of their respective targets. “Analysis of school and outreach performance in the district have been initiated and strategies will be adopted to overcome any challenges”, informed the District Immunization Officer, Dr. C. R. Sangma on Wednesday.
District health authorities have hailed the positive response of the public which has been made possible due to continued awareness and IEC activities and immense support from the district administration, BDOs, Education and ICDS departments and religious leaders among others.
It may be recalled that the district health teams had also organized vaccination sessions at various Puja pandal sites during Durga Puja in October last with the coordination and cooperation of the puja committees in the district.
“However there are still a few resistant groups who are reluctant to vaccinate their children based on their religious beliefs but we are making continued efforts to convince them”, the district health officials said.
The district administration and district health officials continue to make fervent appeals and motivate all sections of the society to come forward to ensure that all children in the age group from 9 months to 15 years are immunized from the two deadly diseases.
“Measles and Rubella are highly infectious and can cause severe disabilities like blindness, deafness, encephalitis, mental retardation, pneumonia, diarrhoea and even dealth. Only vaccine can protect children from these two deadly diseases”, the District Inmmunization Officer said while appealing all sections of the society to come forward to get their children immunized with MR vaccines.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner & Chairman, District Health Society, South West Garo Hills, Ramkumar S have convened a meeting withl the DTFI members and officials concerned on November 2, 2018 to review the status and progress of MR vaccination campaign in the district.