Workshop on MR held

West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Ram Singh while delivering the inaugural address said that whatever they discuss and learn during the workshop, should be implemented by following proper guidelines and reached the targeted group especially in the villages of the district. He also urged them to put extra effort to convince people so that the campaign can be successfully implemented in the district and informed that he will coordinate with the education department with regard to this campaign.

Dr. Rahul Chandro Tiwari, Representative from Rapid Response Team, World Health Organisation, while highlighting the necessity of the MR campaign informed that the Routine Immunisation of Measles vaccine will be replaced with Measles Rubella Vaccine for protection of both Measles and Rubella in which Rubella is a viral disease more dangerous as it causes congenital Rubella Syndrome. He said that the campaign is being introduced since out of 100 deaths, 30 children die of measles in India. He then briefed the participants about the status report of the disease in the country, elimination strategies, epidemiology and rationale for MR campaign.

Emphasizing on the Objectives and Basic Strategic Operational Framework for Measles Rubella vaccination campaign, the District Immunisation Officer and District Maternal and Child Health Officer, West Garo Hills, Dr. Ivory A Sangma explained in detail about the implementation of the programme in a phased manner in the district. The nationwide campaign introduced by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare aims to eliminate measles and control rubella/rubella congenital syndrome by 2020, she added.

Further, the vaccination will be provided to all children in the target age group of 9 to less 15 years of age through sites at schools and outreach session sites even for school dropout children, she informed.  Considering the consequence of the disease which causes various health complications including blindness, deafness, respiratory infections and significance of the vaccination campaign, Dr. Sangma has appealed to parents and teachers to motivate their children and support in the campaign which is compulsory in nature and added that those children who are already vaccinated also should be given this dose of Measles Rubella Vaccine.

The campaign duration is of 5 weeks in which the initial 2 weeks will be school based campaign, subsequent 2 weeks will be community based campaign for non school going or missed children and 5^th week for sweeping or repeat activity based on supervision and monitoring, she informed.

In the technical session of the workshop that followed includes Basics of Micro Planning, School Micro Planning for MR Vaccination Campaign, Planning, Recording, Reporting and Monitoring Tools, AEFI treatment and Management during MR campaign, Group Work on MR campaign, Organising vaccination session sites including Injection safety and waste management in MR campaign delivered by Dr. Rahul C Tiwari RRT, WHO, Dr. Ivory A Sangma, DIO and Senior Medical Officer.

By Our Reporter