The state health department will adopt a polio-like strategy to combat measles in Uttar Pradesh.
As a part of this, lab supported measles surveillance would be launched from July. Under this, outbreak of measles would be recorded on regular basis and blood samples of children in the affected clusters would be examined in a lab that is being set up at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) at an estimated cost of Rs 60 lakh. "The system is already in place in 14 different states and urgently needed in UP which accounts for 60,000 measles deaths annually," said Dr AP Chaturvedi, joint director, routine immunisation, UP. He said training for the programme will begin in June.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases and weakens a child's immune system which makes him or her prone to infections and life threatening illnesses. It is a leading cause of death among children, despite the fact that a safe and effective vaccine has been available for 40 years. World over, more than 400 children die of measles every day, and India alone shares 75% of this burden. If India has to meet the Millennium Development Goal of reducing Infant Mortality Rate by 2015, measles has to be contained.
The state government has partnered with the World Health Organisation's National Polio Surveillance Project (WHO-NPSP) for the purpose. Giving more details about the measles surveillance project, Dr Madhup Bajpai of NPSP said, "We would follow a cluster approach and like the polio surveillance project, we would be using the network of doctors, social workers and other health staff to report outbreaks of measles. A team would go to the villages where the outbreak has been reported and collect blood samples of five children which will be cautiously transported to the lab being set up at SGPGI."
Microbiologists at SGPGI will differentiate the type of measles affecting a particlaur pocket and study the trend of the disease in UP. The officials added that the direct benefit of the surveillance would be curtailment of measles outbreak because a correct estimate of the disease would be known. Additionally, gaps in routine immunisation would be identified which will help in effective implementation of the programme.
Meanwhile, he said, the last round 'Measles catch up campaign' is all set for launch in 23 districts of Uttar Pradesh. The campaign will cover Allahabad, Banda, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Hamirpur, Kaushambi, Mahoba, Pratapgarh, Gonda, Basti, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Sant Kabirnagar, Siddharthnagar, Azamgarh, Bhadohi, Chandauli, Jaunpur, Mau, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and Varanasi.
Dr Chaturvedi said about 1.21crore children from nine months to 10 years will be vaccinated in 23 districts during this campaign. He added that four rounds of campaign have been completed in 52 districts in the state and more than 90% of target children given measles vaccine.
This campaign is running with support from partner agencies such as WHO-NPSP, USAID-supported MCHIP project and Unicef.
Source : TOI , Lucknow ( 23rd April 2013 )
No comments:
Post a Comment