Measles Rubella Elimination: Pilot Phase to be implemented in West Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJuly 24, 2023

In the effort to achieve Measles-Rubella (MR) elimination in Meghalaya, a State Steering Committee Meeting was held on July 18, led by Chief Secretary DP Wahlang IAS. The meeting aimed to strategize the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 5.0 campaign to reach the unreached population.

The IMI 5.0 campaign will run for three months, from August to October 2023. The campaign is scheduled to be conducted in three rounds: August 7th to 12th, September 11th to 16th, and October 9th to 14th, 2023.

Special immunization sites will be set up in areas with low vaccination coverage for children aged 0 to 5 years and pregnant women.

The goal is to achieve over 95% MR vaccination coverage by December 2023, which currently stands at 89% Full Immunization Coverage in Meghalaya. Through the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 5.0, a digital platform called U-Win will be rolled out across India, including Meghalaya, to register and track beneficiaries.

Additionally, UNICEF, in collaboration with its partners, organized a Behavioural Science Intervention Design Workshop aimed at designing effective interventions to improve Routine Immunization (RI) rates in Meghalaya, using insights from Behavioural Science (BI) and Human-Centered Design (HCD).

The workshop generated evidence-based interventions to improve RI rates. The pilot phase of these interventions will be implemented in West Jaintia Hills District and Ri Bhoi District for the upcoming IMI 5.0 Campaign and will eventually be introduced into the Routine Immunization Programmes throughout the State.