Dr. Rebecca on IPPI Activities
Dimapur, February 23 (MExN): In view of the upcoming Intensified Pulse Polio Immunization (IPPI) Sunday on March 3, a workshop was organised for health workers of the Urban Block under Chief Medical Officer Dimapur at CMO conference hall on February 23.
Dr Rebecca, District Programme Officer, UIP-RCH Dimapur as resource person re-oriented the health workers that indigenous wild poliovirus type 3 has been eradicated from our country since 2019; however, the risk of importing wild poliovirus from endemic countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan still poses a high risk of re-emergence in our country. Thus. she urged all health workers to continue their efforts in immunizing children through high routine immunization coverage and high AFP surveillance. During the IPPI 2024, she urged all health workers to mobilize all beneficiaries to get vaccinated during booth day, stated a press release received here.
She further re-oriented the health workers on marking of children which should be on the left little finger with indelible ink marker pen. She urged the health workers to also re-orient their other staffs and volunteers to ensure all vaccinated children are marked correctly; no finger marks on children between the ages of 0-5 years are considered as not being immunized. She re-oriented them on the correct way of house marking
She reviewed the Immunization performance of the district and urged the health workers to review their Micro-plan and analyze the gaps to improve immunization status of the district. She highlighted the basic key principles for Micro Plan review and to address the key issues.
She emphasized on the importance of the 4 key messages that the health workers should highlight during immunization; (i) what vaccine was given and what disease it prevents, (ii) what are the minor side effects and how to deal with them, (iii) when to come for the next visit, and (iv) to keep the immunization card safe and to bring along in the next visit. She stated that not informing the parents on these 4 key messages is one of the main reasons for drop outs in immunization of children.
The training was attended by AYUSH Medical Officers, Community Health Officers (CHO), and Auxiliary Nurse and Midwives (ANMs) under Urban (Sadar) Block, Dimapur District.
