A Study on Mission Indradhanush Programme under Reproductive & Child Health Among Rural Population of Tikamgarh District of Madhya Pradesh

Immunization programs are one of the most well-recognized and successful public health programs across the world. The immunization programs have achieved significant successes in a number of countries; however, the coverage with available vaccines remains sub-optimal in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Lahariya(2015) described under Mission Indradhanush, the Government has identified 201 high focus districts across the country. Nearly 50% of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children in India are in these 201 districts. Mission Indradhanush aims to strengthen key functional areas of immunization programme for ensuring high coverage throughout the country, with special attention to 201 identified high focus districts. Objectives: To determine the factors responsible for not availing vaccination in community. Material and Methods: It was a descriptive research study conducted during March to April 2018. The random sampling technique was adopted to select the district and block. The data was collected using interview schedule. Results: This article, based upon extensive review of literature and using implementation of Mission Indradhanush Programme under universal immunization program (UIP) in India as a case study, summarizes the latest developments and initiatives in the area of vaccination and immunization in the last few months. The article analyzes initiatives under UIP in India from the “health system approach� and argues that it is possible to increase coverage with available vaccines and overall program performance by focused attention on various functions of health systems. It also discusses the emerging evidence that health systems could be strengthened prior to the introduction of new interventions (vaccines included) and the introduction of new interventions (including vaccines) could be planned in a way to strengthen the health systems. Conclusion: It concludes that Mission Indradhanush program under UIP could be one of the entry points for strengthening health systems in the countries and lessons from vaccine introduction could pave pathway for scaling up other health interventions and therefore, could contribute to advancing Universal Health Coverage (UHC).