Anti-pneumonia vaccine as part of Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP)

•  India has rolled out anti-pneumonia vaccine as part of the government’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).
• The vaccine will protect children against severe forms of pneumococcal disease, such as pneumonia and meningitis.
• The vaccine programme aims to protect nearly 270 lakh new borns against 12 preventable diseases every year.
• Pneumococcal disease is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths in children under five years of age globally and in India. India accounts for nearly 20% of global pneumonia deaths in this age group.
• The three-dose pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) will be rolled out in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, six districts of Uttar Pradesh and 17 districts of Bihar as a part of the first phase. The vaccine will give protection against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria which cause pneumonia disease.
• Every year, 59 lakh children die worldwide before their fifth birthday, of them 9% die due to diarrhoea, 16% due to pneumonia. India shoulders the highest burden of child pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths with Nigeria, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola taking up the next four spots.
• Currently, the vaccine is being rolled out to approximately 21 lakh children in Himachal Pradesh and parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in the first phase. This will be followed by introduction in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan next year, and eventually across the country.
• There are over 90 different types of pneumococcal bacteria which cause a range of problems.

About Universal Immunization Programme

• Universal Immunization Programme is a vaccination program launched by the Government of India in 1985.
• It became a part of Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Programme in 1992 and is currently one of the key areas under National Rural Health Mission(NRHM) since 2005.
• The program now consists of vaccination for 12 diseases- tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, Hepatitis B, Diarrhoea, Japanese Encephalitis, rubella, Rotavirus and Pneumonia.
• Hepatitis B was added to the UIP in 2007.

By: Vishal