In December 2014, the Government of India launched Mission Indradhanush (MI) to increase full immunization coverage. MI was a periodic intensification of the routine immunization (PIRI) program, targeting unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children by allocating more resources to underserved areas.
From April 2015–July 2017, an estimated 25.5 million children across India were vaccinated under MI. However, evidence on the impact of MI on desired programmatic and immunization outcomes is limited. Most of the estimates inferred coverage rates through vaccine delivery volume rather than data on administration of the vaccine to individual children. This study estimated the association between exposure to MI phases 1 and 2 and child immunization outcomes by comparing vaccination rates (overall and at recommended ages) and timing in MI vis-à-vis non-MI districts. Data from a 2015 to 2016 national survey of children were reviewed and then analyzed with the difference-in-difference regressions method.
The study finds that India’s Mission Indradhanush campaign improved childhood vaccination rates and timing. The rate of receiving all vaccines at recommended ages was 8% higher in the intervention group. Further, receiving doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) birth dose 1, 2, 3, bacillus Calmette–Guérin, and hepatitis B birth dose vaccines were also higher in the intervention group than the control group.
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