Mysuru: In a bid to achieve the target of full immunisation, the District Health and Family Welfare Department will be launching an Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 2.0 Programme across the district from Dec.2.

Announcing this at a press meet at his Office in Nazarbad here yesterday, District Health Officer (DHO) Dr. Venkatesh  said that ASHA workers were assigned the task of collecting information on the block-wise target of children and pregnant women to be vaccinated during the IMI drive and also the coverage data during  the rounds of activity. Based on the data collected, the Department has identified 283 high risk areas in the district, where 1,694 children and 466 pregnant women remained untouched by the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP),  he said.

Pointing out that IMI 2.0 will be held from Dec.2019 to March 2020, the DHO said that four consecutive immunisation rounds will be conducted for seven days, with the first round to commence from Dec.2. The subsequent rounds will take place from Jan.6, Feb.3 and Mar.2. In all, 354 vaccination centres have been set up across the district to vaccinate children upto two years of age and pregnant women. The vaccine will strengthen the immunisation systems of every child and pregnant women against various infectious diseases, he added.

Continuing, Dr. Venkatesh said that DPT (Diptheria, Pertussis,Tetanus) and TD vaccination drive will be held from Dec.11 to 31 in all schools, during which children in the age group of 5-6 years, 10-11 years and 15-16 years will be vaccinated against these deadly diseases. He sought the co-operation of parents and the children for ensuring success of the drive. The members of the public can call Helpline No.104 for issues concerning health, he added.

District RCH Officer Dr. L.Ravi and District Health Education Officer Prakash were present.