This campaign plays a pivotal role in ensuring that routine immunisation services reach children and pregnant women who might have previously missed or dropped out of the vaccination programs, read the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare press release. IMI 5.0 represents a notable shift, as it marks the first time the campaign is being conducted across all districts in India, including children up to 5 years of age. Previous campaigns were limited to children up to 2 years of age.
The primary goal of IMI 5.0 is to enhance immunisation coverage for all vaccines provided under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) following the National Immunisation Schedule (NIS), read the press release.
It places a special focus on improving vaccination coverage for Measles and Rubella, with the aim of achieving Measles and Rubella elimination by 2023. This initiative also leverages the U-WIN digital platform for Routine Immunization in a pilot mode across all districts in India.
The IMI 5.0 campaign consists of three rounds conducted over six days each month, with the addition of a Routine Immunization Day, read the press release. As of September 30, 2023, during the first two rounds of IMI 5.0, over 34,69,705 children and 6,55,480 pregnant women have received vaccine doses across the country.
IMI 5.0 has seen active participation from Jan pratinidhis and social media influencers across all states and union territories, encouraging the public to visit the nearest vaccination centres and ensure that children and pregnant women receive any missed doses, read the press release.
Since its inception in 2014, the Mission Indradhanush has seen 11 phases of completion, with the 12th phase currently ongoing. Cumulatively, 5.06 crore children and 1.25 crore pregnant women have benefited from this vital vaccination initiative. In the ongoing mission, all states and union territories except Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Punjab aim to conclude all three rounds of IMI 5.0 by October 14, read the press release.
These four states, due to certain unavoidable circumstances, have initiated the first and second rounds and plan to conduct the third round in November.
IMI 5.0 showcases the government’s commitment to securing the health of the nation by ensuring every child and pregnant woman receives essential vaccinations, and the campaign’s focus on Measles and Rubella represents a significant stride towards the elimination of these preventable diseases.
