Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 4.0

The main aim of Mission Indradhanush and Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) is to boost the routine immunization coverage across the country. The topic holds significant relevance from the perspective of the CSE syllabus and should be given an equal amount of attention during the UPSC exam preparation. 

For Prelims: Mission Indradhanush, IMI.

For Mains: Government Policies and Interventions, Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population

Why in the News?

Recently, the Ministry of Health has virtually launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 4.0.

Probable Question

Discuss the significance of Intensified Mission Indhradhanush (IMI) 4.0. Also, critically evaluate how successful have been similar programs in the past. 

About Intensified Mission Indhradhanush (IMI) 4.0

• IMI 4.0 aims to fill gaps in the routine immunisation coverage of infants and pregnant women hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and also aims to make lasting gains towards Universal Immunization.
  • It will have three rounds and will be conducted in 416 districts across 33 states.
  • Unlike the past, each round under IMI 4.0 will be conducted for seven days, including Routine Immunization (RI) days, Sundays, and public holidays.

Also read: How to Prepare for Current Affairs in UPSC

About Mission Indradhanush (MI)

• Mission Indradhanush (MI) was launched in 2014 with the goal to ensure full immunization with all available vaccines under Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) for children up to two years of age and pregnant women.
  • It targets achieving 90% full immunization coverage in all districts.
• Under MI, all vaccines under the Universal Immunization Program (UIP) are provided as per National Immunization Schedule.
• UIP provides free vaccines against 12 life-threatening diseases, namely
  • Diphtheria, Whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, meningitis and pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae type B infections, Japanese encephalitis (JE), rotavirus vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and measles-rubella (MR).

Three stages of Intensified Mission Indradhanush

• Intensified Mission Indradhanush 1.0 
  • This mission was launched in 2017, to further intensify the immunization programme.
  • It aims to reach a child aged under two years and pregnant women who were left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme.
  • Under this mission, greater focus was given on urban areas which were left under the Mission Indradhanush.
• Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0:
  • It was a nationwide immunisation campaign to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Pulse Polio Programme (2019-20).
  • It was launched to ensure reaching the unreached with all available vaccines and accelerate the coverage of children and pregnant women in identified districts and blocks. 
  • It had full immunization coverage targets in 272 districts spread across 27 States.
• Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0:
  • IMI 3.0 was launched in 2021. The focus was on children and pregnant women who have missed their vaccines doses during COVID-19 pandemic.
  • As per the guidelines released for IMI 3 .0, the districts have been classified to reflect 313 low risks; 152 as a medium risk; and 250 as high-risk districts.

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Achievement of Mission Indradhanush

• To date, ten phases of Mission Indradhanush have been completed covering 701 districts across the country. 
• During the various phases of Mission Indradhanush, a total of 3.86 crore children and 96.8 lakh pregnant women have been vaccinated. 
• The first two phases of Mission Indradhanush resulted in 6.7% increase in full immunization coverage in a year. 
• The Full Immunization Coverage among children aged 12-23 months of age has increased from 62% (NFHS-4) to 76.4% (NFHS-5).

About Universal Immunisation Programme: The Expanded Programme on Immunization was launched in 1978. It was renamed as Universal Immunization Programme in 1985 when its reach was expanded beyond urban areas. Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) is one of the largest public health programmes targeting close to 2.67 crore newborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women annually. Under UIP, Immunization is provided free of cost against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases. The two major milestones of UIP have been the elimination of polio in 2014 and maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination in 2015. To speed up the coverage, Mission Indradhanush was planned and implemented to rapidly increase the full coverage to 90%.

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