• Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare has launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 3.0 and the IMI 3.0 portal.
• Focus of the IMI 3.0 will be the children and pregnant women who have missed their vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Beneficiaries from migration areas and hard to reach areas will be targeted.
• Mission Indradhanush was launched in 2014 to provide affordable and accessible healthcare to all citizens of the country.
• The present 8^th campaign will target achieving 90% Full Immunization Coverage (FIC) in all districts of the country.

Every year the Universal Immunization Programme caters to the vaccination needs against 12 Vaccine Preventable Diseases.

Intensified Mission Indradhanush

Syllabus subtopic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, and Human Resources.

News: Health Minister reviews state preparedness for IMI 2.0

Prelims and mains focus Key features and significance of the programme.

About Mission Indradhanush

• To strengthen and re-energize the programme and achieve full immunization coverage for all children and pregnant women at a rapid pace, the Government of India launched “Mission Indradhanush” in December 2014.

• Goal of Mission Indradhanush: The ultimate goal of Mission Indradhanush is to ensure full immunization with all available vaccines for children up to two years of age and pregnant women.

Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI):

To further intensify the immunization programme, the government launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) on October 8, 2017.

• Aim: To reach each and every child up to two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme/UIP.
• Coverage: Low performing areas in the selected districts (high priority districts) and urban areas. Special attention will be given to unserved/low coverage pockets in sub-centre and urban slums with migratory population.

IMI 2.0:

To ensure that not a single child in the country misses out on vaccination, the government has launched the ‘Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0‘ with a special focus on improving coverage in areas with “low” immunisation.

Key facts:

• Through ‘IMI 2.0’, the health ministry aims to reach each and every child below the age of two years and all pregnant women still uncovered/partially covered in 271 districts of the country and 652 blocks of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• IMI 2.0 will include four rounds of vaccination, with each round involving a seven-day immunisation drive to be conducted each month from December 2 onwards.
• The IMI programme is supported by 12 ministries and departments and is being monitored by the cabinet secretary at the national level.

Existing gaps:

The current national full immunisation coverage rate stands at 87 per cent. According to government data, 260 lakh children are born every year and an estimated 31 lakh out of them would not receive complete rounds of vaccination in the first year of their life due to various reasons.