Students in Odisha turn warrior for a cause. Know why

Bhubaneswar: Seems like the Odisha government is pulling all stops in spreading awareness on Measles and Rubella (MR) vaccination programme that aims to stamp out these two diseases; from renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik’s sand sculpture with the slogan ‘Be wise! Get your child fully immunised’ to a social media campaign #NoChildLeftOut.

School students are leading the movement along with ground-level workers to ensure that no child is left out in any corner of Odisha, calling themselves the MR Warriors! They are going out on rallies with a resolve to make parents and villagers aware of Measles-Rubella vaccination.

Moreover, all social media handles of Health and Family Welfare department are regularly uploading informative creative content to sensitize people of taking precaution against these diseases in the form of vaccines.

The Health department is in a combat mode and micro-planning every detail, as it has a target of vaccinating a whopping 1.24 crore children in the age group of nine months to 15 years in this five-week immunisation programme.

Prior to the date of MR vaccination programme’s commencement on January 29, district collectors, CDMOs and other officers of concerned departments have been briefed in taskforce meetings and workshops have been organised to guide paramedical staff, ANMs and ASHAs, working at ground zero.

While phase I will target government and private school students, phase II will commence in villages. Rest children will be covered in subsequent phases. So far, 12 states in the country have launched this programme.