Adding a new vaccine to its flagship Universal Immunisation Programme, the Union health ministry launched measles rubella (MR) vaccination campaign on 5th Feb 2017.
The campaign will soon be followed by roll out of the vaccine in routine immunisation, an official said.
The single vaccine will come in place of the currently given two doses of measles vaccine at 9-12 months and 16-24 months of age.
The new single shot vaccine will be provided to all children aged between 9 months and less than 15 years irrespective of their previous measles or rubella vaccination status or measles or rubella disease status.
MR vaccine will be provided free-of-cost across states at schools as well as health facilities and outreach session sites.
The awareness campaign targets around 41 crore children across the country, the largest ever in any campaign.
In the first phase, the campaign will cover five states — Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa and Lakshadweep.
It will be covering nearly 3.6 crore children.
Partners for the programme include states, NGOs and development partners such as WHO, Unnicef, Gates Foundation, Lions Club, IPA, IMA.
