The CHD says that such drives make people more conscious about the importance of immunization. Officials at CHD said that the VDCs that qualify to be declared as fully immunized will get special incentives from the government.[break]
"No children will miss being immunized under the campaign," said Dr Taranath Pokhrel, chief of the CHD. Dr Pokhrel said that the office has sought commitment from all VDCS across the country to make the campaign successful.
Immunization registers would be maintained properly and additional duties would be assigned to female community health volunteers (FCHVs) to make sure that no children in the VDCs miss the vaccines, the CHD said.
Giriraj Subedi, immunization section chief at CHD, said the FCHVs will get allowances for additional duties. The office said that it will also ask local bodies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to invest in the health sector.
"The goal of the drive to declare all VDCs as completely immunized is to make people at grassroots level responsible about the immunization," Subedi added. He said that district immunization coordination committee of respective districts will conduct a study to make sure that no child in a VDC is left out from immunization.
"A VDC will get the certificate of ´complete immunization´ only if all of its children receive prescribed vaccines," Subedi added.
The CHD said that the office is all prepared to launch the intensive immunization campaign in the month of Baishak (mid-April to mid-May). The CHD says that the program is targeted at 13 percent children who do not receive complete immunization. The National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) has shown that 13 percent children less than five years of age do not get complete vaccines. The survey also showed three percent children as completely deprived of vaccines. The CHD said that massive awareness will be created about the importance of immunization.
"The program is targeted at those who do not get single dose of vaccine as well as those who do not receive complete regular vaccines," said Dr Pokhrel, the CHD chief.
The office aims to immunize over 90 percent children by 2016 to achieve its target under the Millennium Development Goal (MDG). Study shows that only 87 percent children across the country have received complete vaccines.
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