India sees surge in immunisation coverage, Lakshadweep, J&K lead: Centre

New Delhi: India has seen a surge in immunisation coverage of 93.5 per cent with Lakshadweep and Jammu and Kashmir leading, said Prataprao Jadhav, the Centre informed the Parliament on Tuesday.

"The national full immunisation coverage for FY 2023-24 is 93.5 per cent," Union Minister of State (MoS) for Health and Family Welfare said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Lakshadweep had 108.79 per cent coverage, followed by Jammu and Kashmir with 108.66 per cent.

Other states that had good coverage include Telangana (106.13 per cent), Delhi (105.03 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (101.26), Maharashtra (101.04 per cent), and Mizoram (101.10 per cent). The Dadra And Nagar Haveli And Daman And Diu have the least coverage at 48.03 per cent.

MoS Jadhav attributed the rise in immunisation coverage to the Universal immunisation programme, Mission Indradhanush (MI), and Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI).

"Under the Universal immunisation programme, all eligible children up to the age of 2 years are administered vaccination doses as per the immunisation schedule. Mission Indradhanush (MI) and Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI), are special catch-up campaigns conducted at regular intervals to ensure vaccination of the left out and dropped-out children and pregnant women in the areas of low immunisation coverage," the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Further, the ministry informed the Upper House of the Parliament that the country is well-countering Lymphatic Filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, and is a neglected tropical disease.

Sarva Dawa Sevan or Mass Drug Administration (MDA) is one of the key strategies for the elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (ELF). Mass Drug Administration (MDA) was adopted as a strategy for ELF in 2004 and the same is conducted annually.

As per the information received from the National Center for Vector Borne Disease Control (NCVBDC), in India, 345 districts of 20 States/Union Territories are endemic for Lymphatic Filariasis (LF).

"Out of these 138 (40 per cent) districts have cleared the Transmission Assessment Survey (TAS-I) and stopped the Mass Drug Administration (MDA)," he said.

The Centre has set a target of achieving more than 95 per cent coverage of the eligible population under the MDA campaign this year. In 2023, India had achieved a nationwide coverage of 82.5 per cent.