Mr.P.Biswal, the Assistant Commissioner of Prevention, Department of Health, Union government, held a meeting with the administrative and health officials on Thursday to prepare for mass vaccination of children to protect them from Japanese Encephalitis (JE). The vaccination drive is proposed from May 15 to May 30 and children from one to 15 years of age would be covered during the drive.
Biswal while stating that at least 43.26 lakh children from Gorakhpur and Basti division would be covered in the drive said that 48 lakh doses of anti-JE vaccine was likely to reach here by Friday. Biswal has directed the officials to ensure that all children were immunised.Reports from the health department state that 8,004 villages of 61 blocks would be covered during the drive and 2,284 teams had been constituted to carry out the task. Cancelling the leave of all medical officers, the Chief Medical Officer Dr MN Yadav has directed them to motivate all the staff and health workers in the cold chain. Nearly about 1,603 vaccinators around 136 health visitors, 150 lab technicians, 145 pharmacists, 96 staff nurses, 6700 aganbari activists, 1828, Asha workers, health workers and 4,662 primary teachers will be involved in the two-week long vaccination drive.
The chief medical officer has been directed to train the officials for maintaining the cold chain. Biswal said the Union government had provided 224 ILRS, 162 deep freezers, 388 cold chain boxes, and 8059-vaccine carriers to carry out the vaccines. 1114 sub-centres would be made despite the booths at 988-panchayat bhavan and 7946 primary schools.
Dr MN Yadav has said that in Gorakhpur district the total population of children from one to 15 years of age were 1.39 lakh and 1.52-lakh vaccines doses had been received there. He claimed the administration was focusing on awareness and he said that patient handouts were being circulated to create awareness about the drive. He also pointed out that posters had been pasted in rural areas, too.
