Delhi asks state hospitals to vaccinate children 24x7 to reach 100% immunisation goal

Delhi government hospitals will provide routine immunisation services round-the-clock to reach children who are missed because their parents are away at work during the day. The goal is to achieve 100% immunisation coverage by the end of this year.

Delhi government has asked all state hospitals to provide immunisation services round-the-clock to achieve 100% immunisation coverage by December this year.

Delhi’s directorate of family welfare wrote to all its hospitals earlier this month asking them to “support the endeavour”.

“Your personal insight and support towards this endeavour would augment the pace of achieving 100% immunisation coverage across the state... attaining a major leap towards goal of a single-digit IMR (infant mortality rate, defined as number of deaths of infants below age of one per 1,000 live births),” the letter written to the medical superintendants of all the hospitals read.

Around 20% children in Delhi are not immunised, estimates by the family welfare department.

Full immunisation coverage can be achieved only by increasing availability and accessibility. “Routine immunisation shots are given in out-patient departments between 9 and 1, but a small percentage of children, especially children of daily-wage workers, miss vaccination because their parents can’t get away during the day. Round the clock immunisation will help in reaching them,” said Dr JP Kapoor, director of Delhi’s family welfare department.

In 2014, Mission Indradhanush was launched by the union government to speed up this process and achieve immunisation for all children by the year 2020. Since it’s launch, routine immunistaion coverage is increasing by 6.7% per year.

The immunisation programme is monitored on state and national level on a regular basis for follow-up and corrective measures.

Delhi government hospitals have been requested to provide vaccines BCG (for tuberculosis), DPT (for diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus toxoid), for Heptitis B, for measles, tetanus and pentavalent vaccine (a combination of five vaccines against (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis b and haemophilus influenzae type), along with vitamin A supplementation.

All hospitals have also bee asked to install a micro-refrigerator in labour rooms for “birth-dose’ of hepatitis B vaccine used got prevent Hepatitis B from mother-to-child, ‘zero-dose’ of oral polio vaccine and BCG injection.

“It will take a few weeks for the hospitals to make the necessary arrangements and train staff to provide 24*7 services, but it will happen,” said Dr Kapoor.