The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will start a first-of-its-kind free Typhoid Conjugate Vaccination campaign for children aged nine months to 15 years. The campaign will be conducted from July 14 to August 25 on weekends and public holidays.
An initiative of the Central and State governments, the pilot project will be implemented in two phases and cover two lakh children in each phase. NMMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Ramesh Chavan said, “Taking a note of our malaria eradication programme, the Central government chose us for the pilot project.” Mr. Chavan said nearly 5,000 children are diagnosed with typhoid every year. A pharmaceutical company will provide one lakh free doses of the vaccine to the NMMC and three lakh doses will be at ₹200 each.
Mr. Chavan said, “Around 400 children diagnosed with typhoid end up in a serious condition. Instead of treating the disease later, it is better to prevent it using the vaccination. The dose is sold in private clinics at ₹2,000, which is not affordable for all.” NMMC chief N. Ramaswami said, “This campaign is set to create a historic contribution in the public health sector on an international scale.”
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In the first phase, vaccination booths will be set up in 11 of the 22 urban primary health centres (UPHCs) in NNMC. These centres include Nerul Sector 48, Nerul Phase 1, Shirawane, Turbhe, Indiranagar, Juhugaon, Khairane, Ghansoli, Airoli, Chinchpada and Digha. Mr. Ramaswami said, “A total of 1,210 booths will be set up. Paediatricians, medical officers and staff members of UPHCs have been trained for the campaign.”
The Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (ICMR-NICED), WHO-India and CDC-Atlanta will be responsible for collecting the information of vaccinated beneficiaries, suspected typhoid patients and conducting a post-vaccination analysis.