{"id":33096,"date":"2023-01-22T06:34:08","date_gmt":"2023-01-22T01:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=33096"},"modified":"2025-04-19T18:40:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T13:10:01","slug":"indias-plan-to-eradicate-measles-rubella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/indias-plan-to-eradicate-measles-rubella\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s plan to eradicate measles, rubella"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u00a0What is Measles?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is Rubella?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the Difference between Rubella and Measles?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Are Measles &amp; Rubella Preventable?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Plan to Eliminate Measles &amp; Rubella (MR)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Disruptions caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is Mission Indradhanush?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2019, the Central government adopted the goal of measles and rubella elimination by 2023.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Earlier, the goal was to eliminate measles and rubella by 2020. However, due to variety of reasons it had been delayed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Measles?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Measles is a highly <strong>contagious<\/strong> disease caused by a <strong>virus<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Measles is caused by a virus found in the nose and throat of an infected child or adult.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Who is at risk?\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Unvaccinated young children are at highest risk of measles and its complications, including death. Unvaccinated pregnant women are also at risk.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Any non-immune person (who has not been vaccinated or was vaccinated but did not develop immunity) can become infected.<\/li>\n<li>Measles is still common in many developing countries \u2013 particularly in parts of Africa and Asia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Rubella?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Rubella is a <strong>contagious infection <\/strong>caused by a virus. It is best known by its distinctive red rash.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s also called <strong>German measles<\/strong> or <strong>three-day measles<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>This infection may cause mild or no symptoms in most people.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>However, it can cause serious problems for unborn babies whose mothers become infected during pregnancy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the Difference between Rubella and Measles?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Rubella isn&#8217;t the same as measles, but the two illnesses share some signs and symptoms, such as the red rash.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Rubella is caused by a different virus than measles, and <strong>rubella isn&#8217;t as infectious or as severe as measles<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Are Measles &amp; Rubella Preventable?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Both measles and rubella can be prevented by just two doses of a safe and effective vaccine.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Over the past two decades, the measles vaccine is estimated to have averted more than 30 million deaths globally, as per the World Health Organization\u2019s statistics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>India\u2019s Plan to Eliminate Measles &amp; Rubella<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Measles virus is one of the world\u2019s most contagious human viruses that kills more than 1,00,000 children every year globally.<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile, Rubella is a leading vaccine-preventable cause of birth defects, according to the WHO.<\/li>\n<li>During <strong>2010\u20132013<\/strong>, India conducted a phased measles catch-up immunisation for children aged 9 months\u201310 years in 14 States, vaccinating approximately 119 million children.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mission Indradhanush<\/strong> was launched in 2014 to ramp up vaccinating the unvaccinated population.<\/li>\n<li>During <strong>2017\u20132021<\/strong>, India adopted a <strong>national strategic plan for measles and rubella elimination<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>During the same period, the Government introduced <strong>rubella-containing vaccine (RCV)<\/strong> into the routine immunisation programme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Disruptions caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In November 2022, India had recorded more than 12,000 cases of measles.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Public-health researchers say that the revival of measles in India \u2014 mostly in four large cities \u2014 is happening because <strong>millions of children didn\u2019t get vaccinated in 2020, owing to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>On top of this, researchers say there has been persistently low coverage in routine immunizations of new-borns for the past few years, which has contributed to the current outbreak.<\/li>\n<li>Vaccine hesitancy is also an issue in some communities. These areas can be a breeding ground for outbreaks.<\/li>\n<li>Positive Takeaway \u2013\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Estimated coverage with the first dose of a measles- and rubella-containing vaccine increased from 68% to 89% in 2021.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Estimated coverage with the second dose of a measles-containing vaccine increased from 27% to 82% in 2021.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li><strong>During 2017\u20132021, measles and rubella incidence declined 62% and 48%<\/strong>, respectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Mission Indradhanush?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Mission Indradhanush (MI) was launched in December 2014 \u00a0as a special drive to vaccinate all unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children under UIP.<\/li>\n<li>The Mission focuses on interventions to improve full immunization coverage for children in India from 65% in 2014 to at least 90% earlier than 2020.<\/li>\n<li>Till date, ten phases of Mission Indradhanush have been completed covering 701 districts across \u00a0the country.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>No separate funds are allocated for Mission Indradhanush<\/strong>. Funds allocated for Routine Immunization are being utilized by the states to carry out activities under Mission Indradhanush.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) Which Diseases are Covered under Mission Indradhanush?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The programme provides vaccination against eight life-threatening diseases (<strong>diphtheria, whooping cough, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) causing pneumonia and meningitis, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B<\/strong>) in the entire country.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What is the main cause of Diphtheria?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Diphtheria is a serious infection caused by <strong>strains of bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae that make a toxin<\/strong>. It is the toxin that can cause people to get very sick.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/health\/explained-indias-plan-to-eradicate-measles-rubella\/article66418395.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Explained | India\u2019s plan to eradicate measles, rubella<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-022-04480-z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Nature.com<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Measles &#038; Rubella are contagious diseases caused by virus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}