Punjab's Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra here informed that the ongoing Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign received a major boost on May 16, crossing coverage of 20,00,000 children with the vaccine.

He stated that the major thrust to the campaign came from government schools and mainly leading private schools across the state, where the coverage was nearly 100 per cent. Mr Mohindra appreciated the efforts of government and private school managements in achieving complete coverage in their schools and appealed others to follow the example and make the campaign a huge success.

He stated that with support from school teachers, some of the districts have already covered more than 50 pc of the target beneficiaries as of date. Ropar and Pathankot districts have reached 65 pc and 55 pc of targets, respectively, which is commendable.
Due to upcoming Ramadan and early summer vacations in some of the private schools the Health Minister instructed the health officials to prioritize vaccination in these areas so that desired coverage can be achieved on time.

He also instructed teachers, both from private and government schools, to play a proactive role in educating parents about need of Measles Rubella vaccination and take responsibility to get all eligible children vaccinated in their respective schools. In case any assistance is needed, the health Department teams are readily available to provide any technical information and answers the queries being received from the parents of children.

He stated that to further step up awareness among communities and parents and to dispel fake propaganda and rumors, the Health Department has decided to immediately despatch dedicated Publicity Vans equipped with Audio visual aids and print material to few specific districts. These vans would display promotional messages recorded by celebrities and prominent citizens and technical experts about importance of MR vaccination.