Hyderabad: Locating new settlements of migrants and vaccinating them is important to ensure that the immunisation programme is comprehensive and successful.
A study conducted in the state has observed that the government machinery has to constantly carry out this job and only then can the coverage can reach 90 per cent.
Presently, the immunisation programme in migrant camps is 66.7 per cent while the rest of the population is covered in door to door campaigns. While this has been a successful model for polio, the other vaccines like diphtheria and the recurrent ones for diphtheria and tetanus are not followed up.
The study published in Family Medicine magazine stated that the public health system had to train the health staff to constantly locate new settlements at construction sites, visit the newer markets where there are daily wage labourers who had moved from villages and ensure that the young infants are properly immunised. Health officials must also work towards sending them to the nearest primary healthcare centres so that no child is left out.
The study found that the children of migrant workers were settled in a particular location for a minimum period of 30 days. Those who were daily workers often walked to the city outskirts in the morning and returned home by evening. These daily wage workers’ children often missed out on the immunisation schedule.
The coverage among the migrant workers of both categories was found to be 66.7 per cent only. The study also found that their contact with health workers was very low.
The immunisation schedule includes diphtheria tetanus and acellular pertussis vaccine. The other vaccines have to be given at 4, 6 and 11 months and the mother has to be made aware of the need to vaccinate before being discharged from the hospital and also given access to the nearest centre in the district where vaccination will be available.
