Punjab News Express

Vijyender Sharma
SHIMLA:
Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in the country to start Rotavirus vaccination project. Chief Minister ShriVirbhadra  Singh today launched this project from Dharamsala in district Kangra by administering the Rotavirus drops to the children aged under five years. The vaccine will help in controlling the deaths amongst small children due to Diarrhea. “It is a good initiative to help control the worst water borne disease (Diarrhea) which is responsible for about 13 percent deaths of underfive age,” he said The Rotavirus infection amount to 30,000 deaths in India annually, added the Chief Minister. He said it was a matter of pride that Himachal Pradesh was the first state in the country to be selected for launching the project which would be soon introduced in Vellore in Karnataka and Pune in Maharashtra State with technical assistance of International Clinical Epidemiological Network which would bear the entire cost of the vaccines. Based on the analogy of the polio vaccine, the Rotavirus drops would be administered to the children at six, ten and fourteen weeks after birth. Chief Parliamentary Secretary Shri Nand Lal, Additional Chief Secretary, Health Shri Vineet Chaudhary were also present on the occasion.