New Delhi: India made significant progress in 2020 in ensuring children receive immunisation that provide protection against diarrhoea and pneumonia despite challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
According to the report released on the occasion of World Pneumonia Day on Friday, India's coverage of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, which protects against the main cause of pneumonia, increased by six percentage points -- 15 per cent PCV coverage in 2019 expanded to 21 per cent in 2020.
In October 2021, a nationwide expansion of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) under the Universal Immunisation Programme was launched, making it available for the first time for universal use across India.
India currently has the highest global burden of pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths among children under five, and accounts for an estimated 2,33,240 such deaths annually, the equivalent of 640 children per day, according to the report. India's coverage of rotavirus vaccine, which protects against a leading cause of deadly diarrhoea in children worldwide, increased by 29 percentage points -- 53 per cent rotavirus coverage in 2019 expanded to 82 per cent in 2020 -- according to the report.
In 2019, India completed the 100-days agenda -- an unprecedented national scale-up of rotavirus vaccine that will help protect 26 million children born each year against life-threatening cases of diarrhoea -- the report stated.
The annual Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report monitors trends in fighting childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea -- which collectively kill more children worldwide than any other infectious disease -- in the countries with the highest absolute number of deaths.
Of the 15 focus countries included in the report, India is one of just six countries that exceeded targets for exclusive breastfeeding (58 per cent exclusive breastfeeding rate).
Exclusive breastfeeding protects young children by making them healthier and less vulnerable to pneumonia and diarrhoea.