Dimapur, May 14 (EMN): A two-day training programme for trainers in the use of the rotavirus vaccine and its introduction, is being held with medical officers. The introductory program was held on May 14 in Kohima.
The government’s publicity agency, the department of Information and Public Relations (IPR) issued updates on Tuesday informing about the programme.
During the event health officer Dr. Ritu Thur said that the main objective of the workshop was to create a pool of master trainers at the district and block levels so that information on the rotavirus can be disseminated to the grassroots.
The officer referred to a WHO data in 2013 that rotavirus was responsible for more than 2,15,000 deaths each year in children younger than five years of age and 3.4% of all under-five deaths worldwide.
Another health official Dr. Pranay Dutta lauded the 98% success rate of the measles-rubella vaccination campaign which was carried out recently in Nagaland. He was stated to have expressed hope for success of the rotavirus vaccine’s introduction.
The vaccine was developed by Indian scientists and manufactured by an Indian company, Dutta said. According to the IPR, he was stated to have said that the objective was to reduce under-five mortality. He added that the vaccine was ‘very safe,’ the IPR stated.
During the programme, officials from the Social Welfare department expressed the need to have more coordination between the Social Welfare department and the Health and Family Welfare department, especially at the grassroots to execute the programs more efficiently.
