Mission Indradhanush – Intensified Indradhanush Scheme 2.0, 3.0 & 4.0

What is the Mission Indradhanush?

As a part of Mission Indradhanush, pregnant women and children under two years of age are to receive vaccinations against eight diseases that vaccines can prevent. Vaccines against tuberculosis, meningitis, measles, hepatitis B, tetanus, whopping cold, poliomyelitis, and diphtheria are included in the immunization drive. In some specific places, the program will also offer immunizations for the Japanese encephalitis vaccine and the Haemophilus influenza vaccine.

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) announced the commencement of Mission Indradhanush on December 25, 2014, intending to increase vaccination rates for all children in India.
• Children from all social, economical, cultural, and geographical backgrounds are immunized as a part of this initiative.

With the help of a cohesive and dedicated task force, the initiative’s enormous goal is being completed, guaranteeing people complete immunization coverage. Every MI activation is meticulously planned down to the locations where camps will be set up, the children who must receive vaccinations, and the specific immunization needed for the campground.

>> Download Short Notes on Mission Indradhanush

Objectives of Mission Indradhanush

With the launch of Mission Indradhanush, the government hopes to:

• Ensure that the non-vaccinated and partially immunized children are fully immunized per the National immunization schedule.
• Increase political, administrative, and financial commitment through advocacy with keyholders

Focus area of Mission Indradhanush

A nationwide campaign such as Mission Indradhanush concentrates on 216 chosen high-focus districts. The following important locations will be targeted by mission Indradhanush:

• Regions with vacant sub-centres, where no auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) has been posted for more than three months.
• Villages or localities where three or more consecutive humanization sessions have been missed due to ANMs being on extended leave or other similar causes.
• High-risk areas (HRAs) designated by the polio eradication campaign are combined with other normal immunization sessions rather than receiving independent humanization. These people reside in communities like:
  • Urban slums with migration
  • Nomadic sites
  • Brick kilns
  • Construction sites
  • Migration settlements ( like- fishermen’s villages, rivers, and places with moving populations)
  • Underprivileged and hard-to-reach communities (like- forested and tribal populations)
• Areas experiencing inadequate routine immunization coverage were discovered as a result of recent measles outbreaks, diphtheria cases, and newborn tetanus cases.

Strategy for Implementation of Mission Indradhanush

Mission Indradhanush is a unique vaccination campaign that lasts for seven days. The scheduled immunization days for that week are not included in the seven days. These regular vaccine sessions should go as planned. Mission Indradhanush sessions must be held in all designated regions that need routine immunization enhancement but lack or have infrequent routine immunization sessions. All ANMs in the district should be involved in the planning for seven working days (in addition to the days for routine immunizations) to visit and cover the areas for optimum vaccination coverage.

Phase I of Mission Indradhanush

Beginning on April 7, 2015, 201 high focus districts participated in Mission Indradhanush phase l’s week-long special enhanced mean isolation drive for four consecutive months. More than 75 lakh children were immunized during phase 1, of whom 20 lakh received the maximum dose. Meanwhile, approximately 20 lakh pregnant women received the tetanus toxoid vaccination.

Phase II & III of Mission Indradhanush

Mission Indradhanush phase II covered 352 districts nationwide, of which 279 had a moderate focus, and the remaining 73 had a major focus on phase 1. Starting in October 2015, four special drives lasting a full week were carried out as a part of mission Indradhanush phase II.

The third phase of Mission Indradhanush, which would span 216 districts, began on April 7, 2016. Between April and July 2016, four rounds of enhanced immunization were carried out for a total of seven days in each of these districts. On the grounds of estimates, the 216 districts with high dropout rates and fewer than 60% complete immunization coverage have been selected. Along with focusing on children under the age of two, it also prioritized five-year-olds, improved DPT booster coverage, and provided tetanus toxoid injections to expectant mothers.

Phase IV of Mission Indradhanush

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura are included in the northeastern states covered by phase IV of mission Indradhanush, which began on February 7, 2017. In April 2017, it began rolling out to the remainder of the nation.

Intensified Mission Indradhanush

In order to accelerate the work being done under Mission Indradhanush, which was introduced on December 25, 2014, the intensified Mission Indradhanush initiative was introduced on October 8, 2017. By 2020, the mission Indradhanush aimed to get 90% of Indians immunized. By December 2018, rather than December 2020, the intensified Mission Indradhanush aimed to reach at least 90% coverage of complete immunization.

Following the success of mission Indradhanush, the intensified Mission Indradhanush intended to reach the high-risk demographic, particularly in the underperforming regions, using additional tactics. With a concentration on urban, underdeveloped populations, and tribal communities, the mission places a stronger emphasis on dropouts, left-outs, resistant families, and hard-to-reach areas. A seven-day vaccination drive was held every month in 173 districts, and 17 city’s between October 2017 and January 2018 as a part of intensified Mission Indradhanush.

Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0

On December 2, 2019, the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)2.0 was introduced throughout India.

• It is the successor to the intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) to significantly advance the immunization campaign in India.
• The goal of this mission was for the union government to target all infants under the age of two and expectant mothers who were not covered by the government’s regular vaccination programs.
• Making sure that no child contracts an illness that can be prevented by vaccination was the main goal of the increased immunization effort when it was first launched.

Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0

Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 3.0 was launched in February 2020 by the central government to extend the coverage of the national immunization programme. The main aim of IMI 3.0 was to reach the unreached people for immunization and offer all the available vaccines under the Universal Immunization Programme to all the child under two years of age and pregnant women.

Intensified Mission Indradhanush 4.0

Ministry of Health virtually launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 4.0 to ensure Routine Immunization services reach the unvaccinated and partially vaccinated areas.

• The pace of routine immunization has slowed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the ultimate goal of IMI 4.0 is to fill the gaps.
• The rounds of Intensified Mission Indradhanush 4.0 will be conducted in 416 districts, including 75 districts identified for Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav across 33 States/UTs.

National Vaccination Programme

The National Vaccination Programme in India was launched in 1978 as the Expanded Programme of immunization (EPI).

Once the program gathered traction in 1985, it was expanded into the Universal Immunization Programme (IP), which was to be executed gradually to reach every district in the nation by 1989-1990.

In 1992, UIP joined the Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Programme. immunization Programmes have been a significant part of the National Reproductive and Child Health Care Programme since 1997.

Starting from 2005, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has placed a strong emphasis on this area.

GOI is since then been offering vaccinations under the Universal Immunization Programme to prevent seven vaccine-preventable diseases that include diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, a severe form of childhood tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenza type-B, and Diarrhoea.

Mission Indradhanush UPSC

The Mission Indradhanush is an important chapter in the Indian polity, for which you can refer to the Polity Books for UPSC. Many questions have been asked in the IAS Examination related to Mission Indradhanush over the years. It is important to be in touch with the data and stats, and Current Affairs related to this mission. Candidates can also go through the UPSC Previous Year Question Papers to figure out the types of questions asked from MI.

>> Download Mission Indradhanush UPSC Notes PDF

Mission Indradhanush UPSC Questions

Question: Mission Indradhanush launched by the government of India pertains to:

1. Immunization of children and pregnant movement
2. Construction of smart cities across the country
3. India’s on the search for earthlike planets and outer space
4. New educational policy

Answer: A

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