At 90.5 per cent, Odisha best in country in kid vaccination

The Percentage of fully immunised children is the highest (90.5 per cent) inOdisha, according to phase-II of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5).

A fully immunised child is one who has taken all scheduled Vaccines supplied by the government. A child in Odisha takes as many as 12 vaccines from government facilities. Mostly local health and anganwadi workers coordinate the vaccine camps at the village level with the help of health department officials.

The national figure for fully immunised children aged 12-23 months has improved from 62 per cent to 76 per cent in the past five years. Odisha’s rate was 78.6 per cent in 2015-16 (NFHS-4). Odisha is followed by Himachal Pradesh (89.3 per cent), Nadu(89.2 per cent),West Bengal(87.8 per cent),Karnataka(84.1 per cent) and Goa (81.9 per cent).

According to the survey, 98.1 per cent children aged between 12 and 23 months have received most of their vaccinations in a public health facility in Odisha. While 99.1 per cent children were from rural areas, 91.8 per cent were from urban localities. However, only a miniscule 1.4 per cent children (most of them from urban areas) in Odisha received their vaccines from private facilities. As many as 97.3 per cent children aged 12-23 months have received the BCG vaccine. Similarly, 94.4 per cent children have received three doses of penta or hepatitis B vaccine.