Meeting for smooth implementation of Tetanus plus vaccination programme held in Cachar

December 13: A meeting of the district task force for launching Tetanus plus vaccination was held in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Cachar on Saturday. Additional Deputy Commissioner Cachar (Health) Sumit Sattawan presided over the meeting in presence of District Development Commissioner Cachar Jessica Lalsim and Additional Deputy Commissioner Rajib Roy. At the outset, Dr. S.K Roy, pediatrician, S.M. Dev Civil Hospital gave a detailed insight on the TD Vaccine through a PowerPoint presentation.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (Health) Sumit Sattawan asked all the health officials and functionaries to gear up the tetanus plus vaccination programme to meet the target of 68,657 children aged between 10 to 16 years.
Of the targeted 68,657 children, 5,200 fall under Bikrampur BPHC,; 8,459 under Borkhola BPH; 10,101 under Dholai BPHC; 4,792 under Harinagar BPHC; 7,627 under Jalalpur BPHC; 10,140 under Lakhipur; 11,720 under Sonai BPHC; 6,854 under Udharbandh and 3,764 under Silchar urban. It is pertinent to mention here that the 20- day vaccination campaign will be beginning from Monday.

While addressing the media ,Additional Deputy Commissioner (Health) Sumit Sattawan said, “Td vaccine for Tetanus and Diptheria will start from 14 December for 3 weeks. Nearly 2,700 centers have been identified for the purpose which includes Anganwadi centers, health establishment, schools etc. Target are children aged 10 and 16, irrespective of their previous vaccination status”. It is very essential for all kids in the age bracket to get themselves vaccinated. The vaccine is completely safe and tested with no adverse effect. We request that all children in the age bracket gets vaccinated.”

In the meeting, District Development Commissioner, Cachar, Jessica Lalsim also spoke about the vaccination programme. In her speech she said, “Health team to be proactive in implementing the program and ensure immunization of children of prescribed age group. All govt department are our development partners. Our joint efforts will definitely make this immunization program a success and eradicate the disease.”

District immunization officer Dr Rajat Deb asked all the in-charge of BPHC to ensure that no children are left out of tetanus vaccination drive. He asked all BPHCs to open control room to handle any exigency. Dr Rajat Deb disclosed that there would be total 2652 sessions sites out of which 2288 would be under regular out reach sessions and 33 under fixed sessions.

Suman Choudhury, District Media Expert, NHM told that media has a great role in vaccination campaign. There are lots of preconceived notions and religious beliefs regarding vaccination which hinders the implementation of the vaccination campaign. He urged the media to address the issues. “An unvaccinated child is a threat to not only himself but also to the society as he may be a carrier for spread of such disease” he added.

Joint Director of Health,Cachar, Dr Sudip jyoti Das, statistical investigator ,universal immunization programme, Nilanjan Gupta and journalists from the different media houses also attended the meeting.