Govt. Expands Ndradhanush: Four New Vaccines Added
The health ministry will soon revamp its flagship immunization programme 'Mission Indradhanush' to include four new vaccines.
• Under Mission Indradhanush, the ministry identified 201 high-focus districts which account for nearly 50% of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children in the country.
• Of these, 82 districts are in just the four states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and account for nearly 25% of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children of the country.
• In one year's time, 1.62 crore children have been additionally brought under the ambit of immunization.
• The government is targeting to immunize 90% of infants by 2020 under its ambitious nationwide immunization drive.
• Though the government said that it is confident of meeting the target, health experts say it would also require increased public spending on health.
• The health ministry is also in talks with various international health agencies to attract funding to ramp up the programme.