Good governance in public health: Learnings from Mission Indradhanush

Dr Pradeep Haldar, Deputy Commissioner (Immunisation), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW) set the tone for the second day’s sessions at Healthcare Sabha 2018 with a very informative keynote address, on the topic ‘Good governance in public health: Learnings from Mission Indradhanush’. He discussed on various steps taken by the Union Health Ministry to implement the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) coverage in India.

Giving a detailed overview on how the Union Health Ministry shaped the IMI, Haldar said, “In 2015 after four rounds of vaccination under the Mission Indradhanush programme, 2.55 crore children were vaccinated ie 68.79 per cent got vaccinated, which was seen as a slow progress. So, the ministry initiated IMI, which was launched by the honourable Prime Minister to accelerate the full immunisation coverage across the country and provide greater focus on areas, which had low immunisation coverage. Under IMI greater focus is given on urban areas as there was less coverage during Mission Indradhanush. At the end of this IMI, almost 59.46 lakh children were vaccinated and 14 lakh children were fully immunised which is around 75 per cent.”

Informing that IMI was an apt example for good governance, Haldar said, “IMI can be showcased as a good example of good governance in public health. With this mission the Union Health Ministry focussed and incentivised monitoring and established strong accountability right from national level to state and community health level. We wrote to all the chief ministers at state level to review the preparations and progress of vaccination. There was convergence under NULM with other union ministries, departments especially women and child development, panchayati raj, urban development and also community health workers NCC and NYK cadets in order to execute the programme effectively. There was a high level of political commitment, which helped us to successfully implement the IMI programme.”

Answering to a question on the Adverse Effects Following Immunisation (AEFI) cases, Haldar said, “We are strengthening the AEFI services, we investigate each of the case. We are publishing the data on AEFI case in MoH&FW website.”

Haldar also highlighted that IMI was an example for a well-executed government programme, the way forward is to strengthen IMI and sustain it.

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