Reaching the last mile: India’s immunisation story

In December 2014, GOI launched Mission Indradhanush as a special nationwide initiative under the Universal Immunisation Program to strengthen the 30-yr-old initiative and achieve full immunisation coverage. Under Mission Indradhanush, all children aged below 2 and pregnant women are fully immunised with life-saving vaccines. According to the Integrated Childhood and Immunisation Survey 2017, the first two phases of Mission Indradhanush led to a 6.7% annual increase in immunisation coverage. Health workers travelled across difficult areas, crossing rivers, tracking nomads and climbing mountains, to make sure children and pregnant women in these areas were not left unimmunised. Let’s take a look at how these workers actualised Mission Indradhanush’s vision of equitable immunisation.