Immunisation coverage slips

BHUBANESWAR: The Health Department has directed 15 districts to pull up their socks and make a fresh assessment of the immunisation programmes in view of a drop in the coverage.Immunisation is considered the most cost-effective method to tackle childhood morbidity and mortality and Orissa has shown improvement in implementation of the programme over the past decade. In a letter to Collectors, Health Secretary Anu Garg said although the State Government had put in place several strategies to strengthen immunisation programmes which have shown success, some districts have pulled down the State’s average. The 15 districts in question are Rayagada, Malkanagiri, Nabarangpur, Balangir, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Ganjam, Boud, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nuapada, Mayurbhanj, Koraput and Keonjhar. According to the DLHS 3, Rayagada was the only district to have registered less than 30 per cent immunisation coverage while  Ganjam, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Balangir and Boudh had recorded immunisation between 30 and 45 per cent, effectively speaking less than 50 per cent. However, the Coverage Evaluation Survey shows that just about 60 per cent districts recorded full immunisation while about eight per cent showed nil. A little above 30 per cent reported partial immunisation coverage.  Garg said the Coverage Evaluation Survey, 2009, had shown that full immunisation coverage was reduced by 2.9 per cent as compared to the District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS) 3 figures. Besides, the reduction is also evident in the individual vaccine coverage. “There needs to be a greater focus on immunisation in the districts which have registered decline,” the letter said.  The Health Secretary also said immunisation data available from the evaluated surveys like DLHS are more reflective of the on ground situation than those reported through the administrative system. The DLHS 3 is the latest available district-level evaluated coverage data. The Health Department has sent a checklist to the Collectors basing on which they will have to review at least quarterly the immunisation programmes. The Coverage Evaluation Survey 2009 shows that measles vaccination covered 71.9 per cent children while DPT-3 covered just about 70.5 per cent children in the target age group. However, DPT booster dose coverage dropped to  15.9 per cent while Vitamin A first dose coverage stood at 69.7 per cent in the State.