Bhubhaneswar|Ronak
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J.P.Nadda launched the vaccine which fights against Rota virus, the most common disease seen in children at Bhubhneswar.
Main motive to come with such vaccine is to incise the violence-borne diarrhoea.
Firstly the vaccine will introduced in four states; Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh and it will be available at free of cost in all public healthcare centers.
It will be provided at government health facilities to children from six weeks of age.
Speaking at the event Health Minister J P Nadda said: “This is not a routine programme. This Rota virus launch sets the goal in the field of Indian health system. By launching this, we aim to immunize 27 million children across the country to prevent diseases caused by Rota virus.”
Nadda said that the government was aggressively working for the eradication of a slew of other diseases, including leprosy and TB.
“It is our duty to see that every child born in the country born is immunized against dreaded diseases,” he said.
The National Technical Advisory Group on vaccines had recommended the phased introduction of Rota virus vaccine in the country’s Universal Immunisation Programme.
The vaccine was launched in Odisha as the state records high diarrhoea cases among children and deaths due to improper treatment. Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of States(I/c) Petroleum and Natural Gas stated that this is a very important initiative of the Government of India. He noted that this will help to alleviate the health problems created by rotavirus in Odisha in the monsoon months, he stated.Minister Pradhan also appreciated the credible hard work put in by the health workers and urged for getting children vaccinated against rotavirus.
“We are making appropriate investment, and this has been possible because we have an effective healthcare system with more and more facilities capable of providing the vaccine to the needy children,” said Health Ministry Additional Secretary C.K. Mishra.
Dr.Pradeep, Pediatrician at ESI hospital, Gurgaon said, Rota is a highly contagious virus that infects majority of children age of one year. It is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in children which cause death in them.
Further he said that the morbidity and mortality rate can be controlled in children by injecting such vaccines. It can be preventive.
In Odisha around 9.2 percent patients are affected by diarrhoea.
The infant mortality rate in Odisha is 51 per 1,000 live births, while the mortality rate of children under five years is 68 per 1,000 births, both far higher than in the other states where the Rota virus vaccine was launched in the first phase on Saturday.
The diarrhoea burden due to Rota virus in Andhra Pradesh stands at eight percent while the figure in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh is 8.5 percent and 5.5 percent respectively.
Globally there are 453,000 child deaths due to Rota virus every year. In India, Rota Virus diarrhoea causes about 78,000 deaths and about 8.7 lakh hospitalisations each year. Additionally, 32.7 lakh children under five years of age are treated as outpatients.
