Inactivated polio vaccine, adult Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine and Measles Rubella vaccine are the new preventive meds included in Indradhanush.
Four new vaccines would be added to the recently launched Mission Indradhanush, said Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda. Mission Indradhanush is an immunization program aimed to immunize children against preventable diseases and improve the infant mortality rate by 2020. The new vaccines include inactivated polio vaccine, adult Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine and Measles Rubella vaccine, have been made part of the ‘India newborn’ action plan.
Nadda said the Ministry has set a target to bring the infant mortality rate to single digits from the existing 28 per 1000 infants. Mission Indradhanush has covered 40 lakh children of the 90 lakh it had mapped for this year.
Pentavalent vaccine including combination of five vaccines to combat diseases like Diphtheria, whooping cough, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib vaccines has also been introduced to protect the children from preventable diseases.
Nadda launched a website on Mission Indradhanush and a mobile application for field health managers, who will use it to update data which will reach the health minister on real-time basis.
Nadda said there has been a five percent increase in immunization in every phase since the launch of the campaign on April 7. The immunization program will ensure that no child is left un-vaccinated by 2020.
Source-Medindia