Haryana: Electronic equipment for ASHA workers to keep tab on

Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij today said electronic equipment would be provided to ASHA medic workers to enable them to keep a complete record of vaccination with thumb impressions.
He was speaking after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the procurement of pneumococcal vaccine through the UNICEF was signed here that would benefit about 5.5 lakh children who will be given three doses free of cost.
Vij said training would be imparted to accredited social health activists (ASHAs) so that no child in the age group 0-5 was deprived of the vaccination, an official release said.
"This vaccine is available in the market for about Rs 9,000 to Rs 12,000 and only well-off families can afford it. The agreement would benefit the people of the state to the extent of Rs 500 crore to Rs 600 crore annually," Vij added.

He said the disease caused through pneumococcus bacteria resulted in the death of about 16 per cent children by pneumonia in the country.
"UNICEF has agreed to provide this vaccine at cost price which would be borne by the state government," he said.

Vij said the vaccination would be made available in government hospitals within next 2-3 months and it would help in reducing infant mortality rate. Fewer pneumonia patients be admitted to hospitals and there would no financial burden on the poor, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, UNICEF representative, Louis Georges Arsenault, said every day more than 2,500 people got affected with this disease and to control this, UNICEF had started the campaign to reach out every single person.

Mission Director, National Health Mission, Haryana,, Amneet P Kumar, and Arsenault signed the agreement, the release said.