The Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) on Tuesday launched “Immunise Kochi”, a special initiative to ensure that all children in the city under 10 are covered under the National Immunisation Programme.
According to the estimates of the IAP, about 30 per cent of the children in the district are not immunised. While the rural areas are covered by primary health centres, the coverage in urban areas has been found wanting. It is also difficult for a health worker in the urban area to conduct a door-to-door survey. But the Immunise Kochi campaign intends to do that.
M. Narayanan, zonal coordinator of the IAP, said that the programme would focus on all the 74 divisions of the Kochi Corporation and would be implemented with 50 trained volunteers apart from ASHA and anganwadi workers and junior public health nurses.
The programme involves micro-level planning in reaching out to all the children in the city. District Collector Mohammed Y. Safirullah inaugurated the programme at the General Hospital on Tuesday.
National Health Mission, District Administration, Indian Medical Association and the IAP would jointly implement the programme. The Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association, private hospitals and NGOs working in the health sector would also associate themselves with the project.
Dr. Narayanan said that while the campaign would be primarily an immunisation drive, it would also focus on creating awareness on communicable diseases such as dengue, malaria, typhoid and the lifestyle diseases.
M. N. Venkiteswaran, State president of the IAP, said that the results of the campaign would help the organisation plan similar campaigns in other districts.
The new generation was unaware of the large number of deaths that were caused in the past by diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus covered by vaccination, Dr. Venkiteswaran said. Hence, they got swayed by anti-vaccine campaigns, which were baseless and unscientific. Even a single death or morbidity caused by a disease that was preventable was a blot on the State’s achievements in child care, he said.
