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India on Thursday dispatched a consignment of 300,000 doses of Measles and Rubella vaccines, along with medical supplies, to Bolivia to help the country deal with a growing outbreak of the disease."India dispatched a consignment of 300,000 doses of Measles & Rubella vaccines along with ancillary supplies to support Bolivia in managing the outbreak of the disease. India stands by its friends in the Global South," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X.The shipment arrives at a crucial time as Bolivia has declared a National Health Emergency due to a resurgence of measles cases in several areas. So far, 60 confirmed cases have been reported, according to Xinhua."After urgently convening the National Strategic Council for Health Emergencies, in response to the measles epidemic that the country is experiencing and the high risk of the disease spreading, we have decided to declare a National Health Emergency with the firm intention of protecting
Kerala will launch a crackdown on stray dogs by rolling out mobile sterilisation units in 152 blocks and permitting the euthanasia of seriously ill animals, following public concern over recent rabies-linked deaths in the state. Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh said on Wednesday that before deploying the portable ABC (Animal Birth Control) units across the blocks, a pilot study would be conducted in Nedumangad, near here, using one unit under the leadership of the Animal Husbandry Department. "These portable units are more cost-effective than permanent ABC centres," he told a press conference after a joint discussion involving the Animal Husbandry, Local Self-Government, and Law Departments regarding stray dog control. He also said a large-scale vaccination drive for stray dogs would be conducted in August. "Each portable ABC unit will cost Rs 28 lakh. Once an order is placed, it will take about two months for the units to be delivered. During this period, suitable locatio
More than 14 million children did not receive a single vaccine last year about the same number as the year before according to UN health officials. Nine countries accounted for more than half of those unprotected children. In their annual estimate of global vaccine coverage, released Tuesday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said about 89 per cent of children under one year old got a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine in 2024, the same as in 2023. About 85 per cent completed the three-dose series, up from 84 per cent in 2023. Officials acknowledged, however, that the collapse of international aid this year will make it more difficult to reduce the number of unprotected children. In January, US President Trump withdrew the country from the WHO, froze nearly all humanitarian aid and later moved to close the US AID Agency. And last month, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it was pulling the billions of dollars the US had previously ...
India was among the eight countries where more than half the unvaccinated children from around the world lived as of 2023, an analysis published in The Lancet journal showed, "emphasising persistent inequities." Providing global estimates of current vaccine coverage, the study found that the same year, there were 15.7 million children -- 1.44 million in India -- who had received no doses of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine in their first year. An international team of researchers forming the 'Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 Vaccine Coverage Collaborators' updated global, regional, and national estimates of routine childhood vaccine coverage from 1980 to 2023 for 204 countries and territories. In 1980, 53.5 per cent of children who had never received a routine childhood vaccine, or 'zero-dose' children, lived in just five countries -- India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh --, they said. Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and ...
The nationwide rollout of U-WIN, a digital platform for digitalisation of all vaccination services provided under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), has been completed, the government informed Parliament on Friday. U-WIN is a digital platform for digitalisation of all vaccination services provided under the UIP to ensure timely administration of life-saving vaccines to pregnant women and children (from birth to 16 years) against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. The annual target of the UIP is around 2.9 crore pregnant women and 2.6 crore infants (0-1 year). "The nationwide rollout of U-WIN has been completed," Patel said. The key features of the platform include "Anytime Access" and "Anywhere' vaccination services, generation of Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) and Child ABHA, citizen module, automated SMS alerts, QR-based e-vaccination certificates and offline mode for