'Incomplete picture': Centre refutes reports on high number of 'zero dose children' in India

The Union Health Ministry has dismissed media reports claiming that India has a high number of 'zero dose children' who have not received any vaccines. These reports, based on a UNICEF study, present an incomplete picture of India's immunization data, according to the ministry. The reports fail to account for India's large population and extensive immunization coverage.

The ministry emphasized that India's immunization efforts can be better understood through a comprehensive analysis of the data and the government's programmatic interventions. They noted that the percentage coverage for all antigens in India is higher than the global average. For most antigens, India's coverage exceeds 90%, comparable to high-income countries like New Zealand, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Even when looking at Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) coverage, which is at 83%, India still surpasses the global figure of 65%. Among the countries compared, India stands out with DTP-1 (Penta-1) coverage above 90%. The dropout rate, children receiving the first but not the third dose of DTP (Penta), is only 2% in India, whereas it is much higher in other countries. These figures highlight the effectiveness of India's immunization programs across its diverse socio-geographical landscape.

The ministry pointed out that the number of zero dose children in India represents just 0.11% of the total population. This statistic reflects the government's strong commitment to expanding and enhancing the reach of the nation's immunization program. India's Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) is the largest public health initiative globally, targeting 26 million children and 29 million pregnant women annually through 12 million vaccination sessions.

For the fiscal year 2023-24, Full Immunization Coverage in India stands at 93.23% nationwide. Through consistent efforts to vaccinate all eligible children against preventable diseases, India has significantly reduced the Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) from 45 per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 32 per 1,000 live births in 2020.

Since 2014, India has introduced six new vaccines under the UIP to broaden the scope of protection. To reach zero dose and under-vaccinated children, initiatives under Mission Indradhanush and Intensified Mission Indradhanush have been implemented with the support of states. These initiatives have reduced the number of zero dose children by 34% between 2014 and 2023. Across 12 phases of Mission Indradhanush, 54.6 million children and 13.2 million pregnant women have been vaccinated.

India provides the maximum number of WHO-recommended vaccines under the UIP compared to most other countries. The mean coverage in India is 83.4%, which is more than 10 percentage points higher than the global coverage. Additionally, with high levels of OPV and IPV coverage, India has successfully maintained a polio-free status for 13 years since the last polio case in 2011.