Campaign Alert!(States starting campaign in January 2012) 

States Date No of Districts

Rajasthan Jan 9 5

Tripura Jan 12 1

Jan 30 Remaining 2

Haryana Jan 18 Remaining all

Gujarat Jan 30 5

No 2, January 2012

MEASLES

Measles second dose interventionwill reduce India’s disease burdenGLOBALLY an estimated 400 children die from measles every

day. Approximately three-fourths of these deaths are

happening in India alone – 60,000 to 100,000 child deaths

annually!! Active measles infection reduces immunity and

makes the child 

vulnerable to complications such as

pneumonia, diarrhea, encephalitis, and middle-ear infection.

Malnourished children are especially at risk of complications

and death after an acute attack of measles.

While India has made considerable progress in child survival,

measles remains a leading cause of death and disability among

young children. Routine measles vaccination coverage is 74%,

and with vaccine efficacy of 85% when given at 9 months of 

age, it is estimated that 41% of children in each birth cohort

continue to remain susceptible to measles due to dropout, left

out, and failure to develop immunity.

One of the goals of the multi-year strategic plan of the

Government of India, therefore, is to reduce the number of 

measles deaths by 90% in 2013 relative to 2000 estimates. The

Government of India launched the second dose in the

campaign mode with specific objectives to:

Provide a second opportunity for measles immunization to

eligible children ensuring more than 90% coverage.

Achieve at least 90% Measles Containing Vaccine (MCV1)

coverage nationally, and at least 80% MCV1 coverage in all

districts.

Conduct measles surveillance within an integrated vaccine

preventable disease surveillance system.

Achieve full investigation and appropriate clinical case

management of all measles outbreaks.

Fourteen states were identified by the National Technical

Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) as having less than

80% coverage. These states were advised to introduce a

measles catch-up drive for children between the ages of 

9 months to 10 years. In the rest of the country, the second

dose of measles vaccination will be given as part of the

Routine Immunization (RI) programme.

4.15 crore children to be

vaccinated against measles

in Phase-2 of campaign

AFTER COMPLETING the first phase of 

the national measles catch-up campaign

successfully, the second phase has been

launched to immunize more than

4 crore children in the country in 157

districts in 14 states.

This national-level campaign gives

evidence of high-level commitment by

the Centre and states, political support,

and strategic planning in implementing

the campaign with the objective to

make India’s children safe from measles.  

 

 

Measles Vaccination Catch-up Campaign – India: Phase 2 Page 2 

PROGRAMME 

Measles campaign completed in entire state

Measles campaign will be completed in entire 

state in FY 2012-13

Measles campaign will be completed in entire 

state in 1st

Quarter of 2012 (FY 2011-12)

Status of Measles Catch-up

Campaign in India (As of 31st

Dec 2011) 

Out of the 14 states, 5 finished the campaign in 2011 and 4 will finish in the first quarter of 2012. The

challenge will be to finish the campaign in the remaining 5 states which have the major bulk of the target

beneficiary population to be covered. This will need a meticulous plan and appropriate action. Those districts

completing catch-up campaign will also start the 2nd dose of measles in RI six months after.

Reporting of MCV2 in RI for Phase 1 campaign districts(Source HMIS: Data analysed for Oct-Dec 2011, as on January 19, 2012)

S. No. State No. of Districts in

Phase 1

Measles 2nd

dose

reported in HMIS

1 Arunachal Pradesh 1 0

2 Assam 1 0

3 Bihar 5 4 

4 Chhattisgarh 9 6 

5 Gujarat 5 0 

6 Haryana 5 1

7 Jharkhand 5 1 

8 Madhya Pradesh 5 4 

9 Manipur 1 0 

10 Meghalaya 1 1 

11 Nagaland 1 1 

12 Rajasthan 5 4 

13 Tripura 1 1 

Total 45 23

Note: Uttar Pradesh conducted its campaign only in the 2nd

phase in December 2011. 

There is a need for

improving the 2nd

dose measles

vaccination

coverage in RI and

proper reporting.

The Government

of India is

monitoring the

situation closely,

and all states must

upload data on

HMIS regularly. 

 

 

Measles Vaccination Catch-up Campaign – India: Phase 2 Page 3 

COMMUNICATION 

 Haryana Health Minister Rao Narendra

Singh at the General Hospital of Narnaul

launching the measles campaign 

Haryana parliamentarians endorse measles

catch-up campaign in the state xtensive and timely

advocacy with

parliamentarians

helped the Health Department

of the Haryana state to achieve

high-level political support –  

and visibility – to the measles

campaign. The participation

was viewed positively by the

communities as endorsement

of the campaign by their

political representatives.

In its second phase (Nov 14-

Dec 7), Haryana conducted the

catch-up campaign in five

districts of the state: Bhiwani,

Mahindergarh, Panipat,

Rohtak, and Sonepat.

The campaign in

Mahindergarh district was

inaugurated by Hon’be Health

Minister Rao Narendra Singh

at the fixed booth in the

General Hospital of Narnaul.

The minister also inaugurated

the introduction of HepB in the

Routine Immunization

Programme on the same day.

Similarly, in Rohtak, Sonepat,and Panipat districts, the

campaigns were inaugurated

by the Members of the

Legislative Assembly (MLA)

of the respective constituency

accompanied by the Civil

Surgeons and District

Collectors of the districts.

E 

RCH Director in Rajasthan asks campaignmanagers to stick to microplanning timelinesIN A LETTER addressed to the campaign programme managers, the

Director of RCH of Rajasthan state has conveyed that the timelines

decided for microplanning must be adhered to strictly for successful

conduct of the measles campaign. The instruction was accompanied by

a table which listed 12 core activities, deadline for the conduct of 

activities, persons responsible and supervisors. The 12 activities were:

1. Submission of Block microplans to District.

2. Submission of District microplans to State Directorate in Jaipur.

3. Identification of cold chain needs at every cold chain point.

4. First District Task Force meeting.

5. Identification of AEFI centres and designated medical officers in

those centres.

6. Coordination meetings with education department/school at the

Block/District/Sector level.

7. Distribution of IEC material at the CHC/PHC level.

8. Training of vaccinators and sensitization of Anganwadi and ASHA

workers.

9. Training on AEFI management to the designated medical officers.

10. Second District Taskforce Meeting.

11. Distribution of vaccination logistics at the CHC/PHC level.

12. Pre-campaign monitoring.

Meghalaya CM

exhorts parents

to avail measles

campaign opportunity

IN WHAT could be seen as support

from the top, Meghalaya Chief 

Minister Dr Mukul Sangma made a

personal appeal to the parents in the

campaign districts to avail the

opportunity of making their children

safe from measles. “The vaccine is

very important for the health and 

well-being of the children. I urge each

one of you to be kindly vigilant against 

rumours and misconceptions and 

came forward to take this opportunity 

to make Meghalaya a measles-free

state and be a partner in saving lives

of our beloved children,” says his

letter of appeal which was widely

distributed. The appeal was also

broadcast by the local news channel.

 

 

Measles Vaccination Catch-up Campaign – India: Phase 2 Page 4 

COMMUNICATION 

Principals from both government and private schools were

oriented about the campaign and need for support.

Bihar focuses strongly on advocating with principals of 

urban schools in 2nd

phase 

he success of the measles campaign rests

strongly on how actively schools participate.

This was one of the key lessons learned from the

first phase of the campaign held in 2010. Schools,

especially from urban areas, had shown a lot of 

resistance to vaccinating their children. This had

directly contributed to low coverage, thus defeating the

purpose of the campaign and keeping unvaccinated

children exposed to potential threat of measles

infection.

It has to be noted that in the four-week campaign

duration, the first week is dedicated to conducting the

campaign with school children in their respective

schools. To increase the coverage, sustained

advocacy with schools is necessary. Schools in turn

must take proactive steps to orient parents to the

necessity of getting their children vaccinated. Good

coverage results can then be assured!

Partner support in Bihar was extremely encouraging.

UNICEF supported extensively with the orientation of 

schools and media through workshops in all 15 districts

of the state which conducted the campaign.

 

T 

States must use their

logos on the IEC

prototypes to gain

campaign credibility

STATES scheduled to conduct the

2nd

phase of the measles campaign

beginning January 2012 have been

sent a revised set of IEC prototypes.

It is recommended that before

printing the revised prototypes,

states must insert the logos

alongside the three logos of NRHM,

UNICEF and WHO already placed on

the top right-hand corner of all IEC

material.

Insert state

logo here!

North Eastern states innovate on IECmaterial to promote participation inthe measles campaign

 

PRODUCED BY: Immunization Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi

ADVISOR: Ms Anuradha Gupta, IAS, Joint Secretary (RCH)  

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Dr Ajay Khera, DC, Child Health and Immunization

Dr Pradeep Haldar, DC, Immunization 

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