A Decade of the National Health Mission: Full Immunization Coverage and Vaccine Preventable Diseases in India

Immunization in India has been proven and one of the most cost-effective mechanisms to prevent the under-five mortality. This study is based on secondary data analysis from four rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS), conducted during 199293, 199899, 200506 and 2015-2016 and Global Burden of Disease Data (GBD) for the year 2016. A multivariate analysis was done focusing on the urban-rural, Caste and state differentials in full immunization coverage among children aged 12-23 in India during 2005-2016 along with district level analysis for poor and better performing states and analysis of mortality of Vaccine Preventable diseases in India. The vaccination coverage varied considerably from state to state. The full immunization coverage in India has increased to nearly double in a span of 25 years. In the decade 2005-2016 the Empowered Action Group (EAG) states also show an incredible growth of more than 1.5 times, while the under-five mortality has decreased to 24 %. India need to achieve Sustainable Development goal of 90 % national vaccination coverage by 2030. This can be possible if the government focus on the districts of eleven under five mortality contributing states like Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand. Rapid and effective implementation of supply side as well as demand side interventions to the remotest places in India can save our children.