Telangana at bottom in child immunisation; records point out laxity in coverage

HYDERABAD: The full immunisation coverage for the state of Telangana during the year 2018-19 is barely 54%, the second lowest among all states, after Sikkim, in the country. Telangana ranked 35th among the 36 states and union territories of the country, in terms of full immunisation coverage.
Records maintained by the Health Management Information System (HMIS) point out laxity in coverage, as there has been a significant drop in the vaccination coverage when compared to the previous years, when it was 95% (2018-2019) and 88.9% (2017-2018). While officials were unable to pinpoint the exact reason for the low score, they maintained that there has been no shortage of vaccines. Insiders, however, said that the focus on immunisation hasn’t been much, which has caused the dip.

The lack of full immunisation which includes vaccination for BCG, oral polio vaccine, Hepatitis B vaccine, pentavalent vaccine, inactive polio virus vaccine (IPV), Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine, diphtheria and pertussis -tetanus (TPT) vaccines predisposes children (between age 0-10) to a plethora of health issues and contributes to a large number of deaths. In fact, Hyderabad has seen a rise in incidence of diphtheria and Hepatitis B in the recent past and complete immunisation coverage is necessary, say experts.
However, even though certain pockets in the city and state tend to resist vaccination, the actual reason for the dip is not yet clear as authorities say that there is no dearth of vaccines. “The immunisation activity wasn’t focussed on much so far during the current year but by the end of the financial year, it is likely to pick up. Since it is lagging behind, it might not be as good as the previous two years,” said a highly-placed source in the state health department. Another source said that it could be due to poor reporting.
Short supply of vaccines, however, is ruled out.“Vaccines are usually supplied by the Government of India through the National Health Mission (NHM) and stored here. Certain vaccines are procured locally too but there has not been any dearth,” said Chandrashekar Reddy, chairman, Telangana State Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TSMIDC).
When asked about the numbers which were quoted by the Union minister for health and family welfare, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, in the Lok Sabha, state joint director for immunisation, Dr Chandra Sekhar, said he was unaware of the report and that the actual numbers were different