New Delhi: National Immunisation Day is celebrated every year on March 16. National Immunisation Day, also called National Vaccination Day is observed to convey the importance of vaccination.
It was on this day, March 16, in 1995 that the first dose of Oral Polio vaccine was given in India.
The first dose of the Oral Polio Vaccine was administered in 1995 on this date, under the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Polio Eradication Initiative which had begun in 1988. Children who were in the age range of 0-5 years were given two drops of the vaccine orally in public health centres. Vaccination against Polio, however, had already started in 1978 and on March 27, 2014, India was declared polio-free, by WHO.
Modern immunisation developed in India in the 19th Century. India has launched its first vaccine Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) over 50 years ago to combat Tuberculosis. In 1978, an expanded programme was launched and it included vaccines against Typhoid and DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus). In 1985, the same programme was modified and it became the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) and was implemented in a phased manner.
On National Vaccination Day, the Government of India seeks to raise awareness about the necessity of immunisation against not just the deadly Poliovirus, but every major viral disease that we do not have natural immunity against. The major vaccines administered in India to children up to 5 years of age are Tetanus, Measles, Rubella, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis-B, Meningitis, Pneumonia, Diptheria, and Pertussis. Covid-19 vaccines for the vulnerable group are the latest addition.
The theme for this year’s National Vaccination Day is both Polio eradication as well as the current COVID-19 threat. Vaccination schedules to eradicate the SARS-CoV-2 virus are being run across the nation.
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