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Over 40 Radio jockeys and National Programming Heads of private FM radio stations gathered in the capital on 6-7 June 2014 for a first-of-its kind brainstorming and hands-on training workshop on Routine Immunization (RI) for radio professionals. The workshop was organized by UNICEF in partnership with AROI (Association of Radio Operators of India), as part of its efforts to build awareness on Routine immunization.

The two-day workshop brought together India’s top FM players from 9 priority states to stand up for a common cause-saving childrens’ lives from vaccine preventable diseases.      #uinnovate #GAVIalliance #gavi 

UNICEF & George Institute for Global Health deliberated on "Critical Appraisal Skills for Media reporting" on Routine Immunization on 22 May 2014. A group of over 40 communication specialists and heads of journalism schools from states with low #Immunization rates  discussed novel approaches to engage with media on health reporting. Media in its role of key influencer can take an evidence-based approach and bridge the gap in media coverage on Routine immunization. #oxforduniversity @Nuffield School of Population Health #uinnovate #GAVIalliance #gavi

BBC News: Eradicating polio one step at a time

By Vikas PandeyBBC Monitoring

Sita Devi says she is committed to keeping India polio-free

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A few years ago, India accounted for half the world's cases of polio. Today it is officially clear of the disease. This remarkable feat is largely down to an army of women who, one step at a time, have crisscrossed the country on foot to give the under-fives polio vaccines.

Sita Devi is one of India's "polio aunties". The 57-year-old often walks miles in the searing heat to find children in remote villages and communities who need vaccinating.

She is one of the hundreds of thousands of women working in Aanganwadis - health care centres - in India which provide free basic services to those who cannot afford to pay.

They are part of the Pulse Polio Initiative that was started in 1995 with the aim of eradicating the disease from the country.

Sita Devi often walks long distances in the heat to reach families in need of the vaccine

Since then, 12.1 billion doses of polio vaccine have been administered here.

In 2006 India still accounted for half of all global cases of polio - but earlier this year it recorded three years without a new reported case.

This achievement allowed the World Health Organization (WHO) to finally declare its entire South East Asia region polio-free.

'New problem'

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Countries in WHO SE Asia region

• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• Democratic People's Republic                           of Korea
• India
• Indonesia
• Maldives
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Sri Lanka
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste

But now Ms Devi is worried. She doesn't know if she can persuade the families she works with in the rural areas around Allahabad in northern India to have their children immunised again.

She airs her concern at a morning meeting of Aanganwadi workers in one of Allahabad's regional health offices.

It's 45C (113F) outside and a rusty fan isn't doing much to cool the room down.

Ms Devi's worry is partly down to the success of the eradication programme - the next round of immunisations is due in June but many families do not see the logic in repeated vaccinations now that India is polio-free.

"This is a new problem. We must deal with it carefully so that people understand why we are giving the anti-polio drops," she tells Rajesh Singh, the regional health officer.

As a chorus of similar worries erupts, Mr Singh encourages the Aanganwadi workers to tell the families regular immunisation is important to keep the disease away.

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Vaccination drive against Japanese Encephalitis in three dists from May 5

PATNA: Bihar government is going to launch a special vaccination drive against Japanese Encephalitis (JE) from May 5 in three districts: Jamui, Sheikhpura and Lakhisarai. In the special drive, children in the age of 1-5 will be administered the JE vaccine.

Last year 12 cases of JE were detected in Bihar. JE vaccination campaign was launched in 2007 and till date, 19 districts of districts of the state have already been covered, said state immunization officer Dr N K Sinha. They include Patna, Nawada, Bhojpur, Muzaffarpur, Siwan, Gopalganj, Aurangabad, Vaisahli, Samastipur and Bhagalpur. Altogether, 31 districts of Bihar are JE-endemic. Around 10 crore children have been vaccinated against JE in India, of which 25% (2.3 crore) children are in Bihar.

In the current drive, children will be vaccinated at all the schools. In order to reach the uncovered children at schools, a door-to-door campaign will be launched in which the local health activists will mobilize people to the health centre where the injectable vaccine will be administered. Playing down the concerns whether private schools will come on board, a health official shared his experience about the drive in Patna and said, "Though some private schools were initially reluctant, they later came on board. A day before vaccination, teachers were asked to send a note to parents, informing them that on the next day the children will be vaccinated and if they did not want to give consent, they must not send their child to the school. However, most of the parents gave their consent."

At a workshop jointly organized by the State Health Society and PATH, an NGO, experts said there was no treatment against JE. "Antibiotics cannot treat JE. Only symptomatic treatment is possible. Vaccination is the only way to prevent it," said PMCH paediatrician Dr Nigam Prakash Narain.

Doctors also highlighted the fact that the culex mosquito that causes JE mostly breeds in rice fields. The virus enters the body through blood stream and infects brain and spinal cord and may render the child disabled for ever. "It should not be considered a disease that can hit only the poor because mosquitoes can bite anyone as they breed in stagnant water," said doctors.

Experts added, "Though vaccination is the best way to prevent JE, the importance of avoiding mosquito bites, preventing water stagnation and modification of pig rearing practices can't be ignored in fight against JE."

Fever with convulsions and chills and abnormal behavior due to brain dysfunction are common symptoms of JE. While 30% cases of JE are fatal, another 40% could lead to mental retardation.

Source: TimesofIndia

Urban Health Training Centre celebrates world immunization week

CHANDIGARH: World Immunization week was successfully celebrated by Urban Health Training Centre (UHTC, Sector-38), Department of Community Medicine, School of Public Health, PGIMER both at health facility level and at community level in Sector-38, Chandigarh from April 24 to April 30, 2014. World Health Organization's (WHO) theme for the year 2014 was "Are you up-to-date?"

The low income group (LIG) areas of the sector-38 were selected for the celebration of world immunization week since these areas recorded lower immunization rates and higher dropout rates compared to the corresponding higher income group of the same sector. The awareness and celebration campaign was done at respective Anganwadi centers of the LIG colony of Sector 38-A, D and C on 24th, 26th and 28th April, 2014 respectively. There were totally 32, 21 and 25 pregnant women and nursing mothers from LIG colony of Sector 38-A, D and C actively participated in this celebration.

Introduction was given by Dr. Kathirvel. S, Senior Resident about the vaccine preventable diseases and its effect, necessity for immunization against the diseases and its benefits and benefits of giving breast milk especially colostrum to children. He also elaborated the complete national immunization schedule under Universal Immunization programme. Dr. Sudip shared information with the gathering like when and where to go for immunization, what to do in case of missing dose and missing immunization card, what to do in case of in and out migration. The session also included the dos and don'ts in case of adverse event following immunization. 

A short movie on immunization was shown to the participants. At the end of the video session, queries raised by the group were addressed by the doctors. Information on optional vaccines to children and other pre and post exposure prophylactic vaccine like anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) was also shared with the gathering. The event was quite interactive in which the doctors cleared doubts of pregnant and nursing mothers regarding immunization. The mothers also expressed their satisfaction after the interactive session.

Source: TimesofIndia

Hilleman Labs to help India improve coverage of routine immunisation programme

Marking the start of the World Immunisation Week, the Hilleman Laboratories, an equal joint-venture partnership formed between Merck & Co. and Wellcome Trust, announced their innovative technological intervention, thermostability, to help improve coverage of the routine immunisation programme in India.

With the vision to achieve 95 per cent coverage of Expanded Programme of Immunisation in India which will merit 70 – 80 million doses annually, Hilleman Laboratories is bringing in innovation to act as a catalyst in bridging the gap between academia and product development by increasing the efficiency of existing vaccines with heat stable, easy to use, affordable and novel packaging features, said a release here.

Commenting on the current immunization scenario, Dr. Davinder Gill, chief executive officer, Hilleman Laboratories said, “With a quarter of the current birth cohort left unimmunised in the country, India severely lags behind even when compared with lesser developed nations as well as its immediate neighbours. We aim to compliment the current ecosystem and help expand the supply chain, adding scale and lowering the manufacturing cost; making the existing vaccines accessible and affordable for the unimmunised in India and other developing nations.”

According to WHO, 70 per cent of the world's 22.6 million unimmunised children live in 12 nations; with India home to the largest chunk of 6.9 million. According to the Immunisation Report by UNICEF and WHO, against the 67 per cent cover in India, our neighbours boasts a much higher coverage with Sri Lanka topping the list at 97 per cent followed by Bangladesh at 95 per cent, Bhutan at 92 per cent , Pakistan at 88 per cent and Nepal at 85 per cent.

“The solution to amplify this figure lies in distributing life-saving vaccines without the requirement for large bulk shipments, expensive warehousing and costly, difficult-to-maintain refrigerated shipping paths from the manufacturing plant to the patient, currently spearheaded by Hilleman Laboratories. One of the key breakthrough results the company presents is about the thermo-stable property of vaccines enabling it to withstand tough temperature conditions of countries in Asia and Africa,” the release said.

According to a recent McKinsey & Company report, one of the key constraints of enabling deeper vaccine penetration in India is attributed to limitations in distribution, public health delivery system and supply. Distribution is hampered by an inadequate cold chain and constraint to last-mile distribution, which has limited penetration of basic vaccines to 60-70 per cent.

Though vaccines have transformed public health throughout the world, for children in particular, the burden of vaccine preventable disease in India is still substantial.  Close to two million Indians died of vaccine preventable diseases in 2012. The grim irony translates from the fact that India is the largest producer of vaccines in the world.

Source: pharmabiz.com