Government targets 95% immunisation cover by end of 2016

The government is targeting to immunise 95 percent children population in the next 1.5 years, according to J P Nadda, Minister of Health. “The government today is ready for all types of linkages and partnerships with the industry, with innovators. Cold chain logistics and management can be developed for far flung areas and this is where we need innovations from the private sector. These innovations must be cost effective and affordable,” he said at the Health and Immunisation Conference, held in New Delhi on June 30, 2015.   
 
The conference, with the theme of was ‘Innovations aiding universal immunisation programme’, was organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
 
C K Mishra, additional secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said, “Solution lies in innovative solutions. In our endeavour towards achieving affordable and quality healthcare, we need to innovate with technologies within the cold chain management system, and target to vaccinate every child.”
 
Dr Naresh Trehan, chairman, CII National Council on Healthcare & chairman and managing director, Medanta, stated, “India needs to innovate to ensure that its future generations can enjoy health benefits at a very small price. Immunisation is one such tool, and there must be no hesitation to integrate the efforts of the government and the industry to overcome challenges of immunisation.”
 
According to Richard Feachem, director, Global Health Group & professor of Global Health, University of California (San Francisco and Berkeley), India is poised to take a lead and become the vaccine producer of the world with over 60 percent of the demand for vaccines being met by Indian vaccine producers. “It must now move rapidly to become vaccine innovators of the world,” he added.