Nationwide Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Drive

• 30 Oct 2021

Why in News

Recently, the Union Health Minister has launched a nationwide expansion of Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) with an aim to reduce under 5 mortalities caused due to pneumonia.

• It was launched under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) as a part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• It was for the first time in the country that PCV would be available for universal use.

Key Points

• Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV):
  
  • A Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine containing 13 different strains of the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae, used in children and studied in patients with impaird immune system for the prevention of pneumococcal disease.
    
    • Conjugate vaccines are made using a combination of two different components.
• Pneumococcal Disease:
  
  • About: It is a bacterial infection caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, sometimes known as pneumococcus.
  • Symptoms: These bacteria can cause many types of illnesses, including pneumonia, which is an infection of the lungs. Pneumococcal bacteria are one of the most common causes of pneumonia.
  • Vulnerable Population: Children under 2 years of age, people with certain medical conditions, adults 65 years or older, and cigarette smokers are at the highest risk.
  • Status in India: In India, around 16% of deaths among children occur due to pneumonia.
    
    • Pneumonia is contagious and can be spread through coughing or sneezing. It can also be spread through fluids, like blood during childbirth, or from contaminated surfaces.
• Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP):
  
  • Launch:
    
    • The Immunization Programme in India was introduced in 1978 as ‘Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
    • In 1985, the Programme was modified as ‘Universal Immunization Programme (UIP)’.
  • Objectives of the Programme:
    
    • Rapidly increasing immunization coverage,
    • Improving the quality of services,
    • Establishing a reliable cold chain system to the health facility level,
    • Introducing a district-wise system for monitoring of performance, and
    • Achieving self-sufficiency in vaccine production.
  • Features:
    
    • UIP prevents mortality and morbidity in children and pregnant women against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases. But in the past, it was seen that the increase in immunization coverage had slowed down and it increased at the rate of 1% per year between 2009 and 2013.
      
      • Nationally against 10 diseases - Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, Rubella, severe form of Childhood Tuberculosis, Rotavirus diarrhea, Hepatitis B and Meningitis & Pneumonia caused by Haemophilus Influenzae type B.
      • Sub-nationally against 2 diseases - Pneumococcal Pneumonia and Japanese Encephalitis; of which Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine has been nationally expanded, while JE vaccine is provided only in endemic districts.
    • To accelerate the coverage, Mission Indradhanush was envisaged and implemented since 2015 to rapidly increase the full immunization coverage to 90%.
    • Recently, the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 3.0 scheme has been rolled out to cover children and pregnant women who missed routine immunisation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: TH