Why is it in the news?

• Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI 5.0) will conclude all three rounds on October 14, 2023.
• All States/Union Territories, except Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Punjab, will conclude all three rounds of IMI 5.0 campaign.

More about the news

About Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)

• IMI 5.0 is the flagship routine immunization campaign of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• It aims to ensure routine immunization services reach missed-out and dropped-out children and pregnant women across the country.
• This year’s campaign is conducted in all districts in India and includes children up to 5 years of age (previous campaigns included children up to 2 years of age).
• The campaign has a special focus on improving Measles and Rubella vaccination coverage with the goal of eliminating Measles and Rubella by 2023.
• The U-WIN digital platform for Routine Immunization is being used in pilot mode across all districts in the country.
• IMI 5.0 aims to enhance immunization coverage for all vaccines provided under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) following the National Immunization Schedule (NIS).
• IMI was first implemented in 2017-18. IMI 4.0 was conducted in 416 high-focus districts across India in 2022.

 About Mission Indradhanush (MI)

• Mission Indradhanush (MI) is a special catch-up campaign under the Universal Immunization Program (UIP) launched in December 2014.
• MI vaccinates all unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children and pregnant women left out from Routine Immunization.
• Since 2014, 11 phases of Mission Indradhanush have been completed across the country.
• The 12th phase is currently ongoing, and a total of 5.06 crore children and 1.25 crore pregnant women have been cumulatively vaccinated under the campaign.