Lok Sabha Question No. 4486 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-19
Subject: Vaccination of Newborns
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Behanan Benny

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4486 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 TH JULY, 2019

## VACCINATION OF NEWBO RNS

## 4486. SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken steps to create awareness among parents of newbo about the importance of vaccination, and if so, the details thereof, program - wise;
- (b) the steps taken by the Government to address the issue of vaccine hesitancy, public mistrust of vaccines and immunisation services in the country;
- (c) whether the services of ASHA workers is to be utilized to create awareness about vaccina and establish a line of primary communication between the general public and health wor and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MIN ISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a): Yes, Government has taken steps to create awareness among parents of newborns about the importance of vaccination.

Steps taken to create awareness  among parents of newborns across the country are:

- Awareness generation through electronic and print media like radio spots, television, hoardings etc.
- Inter personal communication by front line health workers like Auxiliary Nurse Midw (ANM) and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs).
- Utilizing social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp
- Social mobilization by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and other communit workers.
- Incentives to ASHAs for mobilizing the children to the session si te and for ensuring full immunization to the child at 1, 2 and 5 years of age.
- Delivering  free, audio messages  about immunizationdirectly  to  mobile  phones of  the caregivers from the second trimester of pregnancy until the child is one year old
- Delivering periodic text messages to caregivers regarding immunization

(b): The  following  steps  are  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  the  issue  of  vacc hesitancy, public mistrust of vaccines and immunisation services in the country:

- Active social mobilization is carried out in the states to counter the vaccine hesitancy among high - risk  areas  and  groups.  A  cadre  of  skilled  and  experienced  mobilisers  of  So Mobilization Network (SMNET) is deployed in select states to mobilise the communiti and address the mi strust, rumours and hesitation regarding vaccination.
- Advocacy with key religious leaders and influencers on the importance of vaccination.
- Advocacy  with  media  to  cover  positive  immunization  stories  from  the  field  and  succ stories for building trust i n immunization and vaccines.
- Mobilizing the private practitioners through advocacy with Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) / Indian  Medical  Association  ( IMA ) to  give  out  messages  on  importance  of vaccination and on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
- Positive  messages  to  counter  rumours,  myths  and  misinformation  through  social  med including Twitter, F acebookand WhatsApp

(c)& (d) : Yes,  the  services  of  ASHA  workers  is  utilized  to  create  awareness  abo vaccination and establish a line of primary co mmunication between the general public and health workers.

- ASHA  workers  have  been  capacitated  through  various  platforms  to  enhance  their Interpersonal  Communication  Skills  to  establish  and  strengthen  the  line  of  pri communication between public and hea lth workers.
- ASHA workers  are being trained on BRIDGE (Boosting Routine  Immunization Demand Generation)  module  across  all  states  to  ensure  effective  awareness  generation Interpersonal Communication (IPC) among general public.
- ASHA workers also promot e awareness about vaccination through regular house to house visits in the community and on Village Health and Nutrition Day (VHND)