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Millions of young children miss out on national vaccination programmes each year
NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - A southern Indian state is planning to provide cash incentives to mothers who register their newborn children for vaccinations in a bid to reach out to millions of young children who are missed out of national immunisations programmes every year, the Times of India reported on Monday.
Latest figures from India's National Family Health Survey show that, despite the rapid increase of free immunisation services being offered free in public clinics across the country, only 44 percent of Indian children aged between 1-2 years old receive basic vaccines.
The coastal state of Tamil Nadu now wants to provide each pregnant woman with a smart card with her medical details and will give her 4,000 rupees ($90) - mainly to buy nutrition-rich food to avoid anaemia - once she registers with a government healthcare unit, said the daily newspaper.
If the woman gives birth to her child at a government hospital, the state will deposit another 4,000 rupees in her bank account. And if she takes the baby to a healthcare unit for all vaccinations, the health department will transfer a further 4,000 rupees to her account after the 14th week, said the newspaper report.
Health experts say immunisation is a highly cost-effective way of improving the survival of children in developing countries. According to the British Medical Journal, every year an estimated 27 million children and 40 million pregnant women do not receive the basic package of vaccines. Two to three million people, as a result, die from diseases which can be prevented with such vaccines.
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