Odisha’s Polio Vaccination during Rath Yatra 2022 Acknowledged as Good Practices by WHO

Bhubaneswar: The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the Odisha’s polio vaccination drive during the Rath Yatra 2022 and the routine immunization as good practices.

In a communiqué, the WHO said that Rath Yatra is an important festival held at Jagannath Dham in Puri, which was attended by around 10 lakh people this year. The Health and Family Welfare Department planned vaccination of children below 5 years with bivalent polio vaccine as per guidelines and vaccinated children on four of the nine days of the festival period at major transit points in a strategic manner.

WHO field teams supported the government’s vaccination drive.

Appreciating Odisha’s routine immunization drive, the WHO said activities done in one part of the country can be a learning experience for the other. This was demonstrated when the immunization team from Madhya Pradesh visited Odisha to observe the good practices being implemented in the state. The team included officials from the MP state government, WHO, UNDP etc, who interacted with first-level beneficiaries and caregivers. They appreciated tracking children in reproductive and child health registers and monthly reporting in HMIS, the WHO added.