Vaccination of Newborns

New Delhi, July 19, 2019 :

Government has taken steps to create awareness among parents of newborns about the importance of vaccination.

Steps taken to create awareness  among parents of newborns across the country are:

• Awareness generation through electronic and print media like radio spots, television, poster, hoardings etc.
• Inter personal communication by front line health workers like Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs).
• Utilizing social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp
• Social mobilization by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and other community workers.
• Incentives to ASHAs for mobilizing the children to the session site and for ensuring full immunization to the child at 1, 2 and 5 years of age.
• Delivering free, audiomessages about immunization directly to mobile phones of the caregivers from the second trimester of pregnancy until the child is one year old
• Delivering periodic text messages to caregivers regarding immunization

The following steps are taken by the Government to address the issue of vaccine hesitancy,  public mistrust of vaccines and immunisation services in the country:

• Active social mobilization is carriedoutin the states to counter the vaccine hesitancy among high-risk areas and groups. A cadre of skilled and experienced mobilisers of Social Mobilization Network (SMNET) is deployed in select states to mobilise the communities and address the mistrust, rumours and hesitation regarding vaccination.
• Advocacy with key religious leaders and influencers on the importance of vaccination.
• Advocacy with media to cover positive immunization stories from the field and success stories for building trust in immunization and vaccines.
• Mobilizing the private practitioners through advocacy with Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP)/ Indian Medical Association (IMA) to give out messages on importance of vaccination and on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
• Positive messages to counter rumours, myths and misinformation through social media including Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp

The services of ASHA workers is utilized to create awareness about vaccination and establish a line of primary communication between the general public and health workers.

• ASHA workers have been capacitated through various platforms to enhance their Interpersonal Communication Skills to establish and strengthen the line of primary communication between public and health workers.
• ASHA workers are being trained on BRIDGE (Boosting Routine Immunization Demand Generation) module across all states to ensure effective awareness generation and Interpersonal Communication (IPC) among general public.
• ASHA workers also promote awareness about vaccination through regular house to house visits in the community and on Village Health and Nutrition Day (VHND)

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Sh Ashwini Kumar Choubey stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, here today on July 19, 2019