Steering committee strives to achieve 100% immunisation

SHILLONG, July 20: Targeting 100 per cent immunisation in state, the Steering Committee will organise a three-month immunisation catch-up campaign through Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 5.0 to ramp up the overall immunisation coverage in Meghalaya which stands at 89% at present.
This was informed a meeting of the state steering committee chaired by Chief Secretary DP Wahlang at Main Secretariat on Tuesday along with Directors of Health Services (MI, MCH&FW, R) and officials from the Health department, National Health Mission, Social Welfare department, Education department, Housing department, Civil Defence department, Urban Affairs department, Sports and Youth Affairs department, Labour department, Mining and Geology department and development partners WHO, UNICEF, UNDP and JSI.
The campaign is scheduled to be conducted in three rounds — August 7 to 12, September 11 to 16, and October 9 to 14.
Immunisation session sites will be set up in identified locations with low coverage for children from 0-5 years of age as well as pregnant women. With this campaign, it is envisaged that Measles-Rubella Elimination target will be achieved by ensuring MR vaccination coverage of more than 95% by December 2023. Through the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 5.0, ‘U-Win’, a digital platform to register and track beneficiaries, will be rolled out across India and Meghalaya as well.
In addition, UNICEF, in collaboration with their partners, organised a three-day behavioural science intervention design workshop which aimed to design effective interventions to improve Routine Immunization (RI) rates in Meghalaya, using insights from Behavioural Science (BI) and Human-Centered Design (HCD).
The workshop aimed to translate research findings into practical, evidence-based interventions to improve RI rates.
The participants of the workshop comprised state, district and block-level officials from the Health department, National Health Mission, and other partners.
The outcome of the workshop will be presented to Health & Family Welfare department officials before they are implemented on a pilot phase in two districts – West Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi — for the upcoming IMI 5.0 campaign, and will eventually be introduced into the routine immunisation programmes throughout the state.