‘Vaccination is about providing children with a lifetime of benefits'

Over three million children die every year, which could easily be prevented by vaccination, informs Neeraj Mehta, CEO, ImmunifyMe during an interaction with Akanki Sharma

What is the current scenario of immunisation in India? Compared to other countries in the world, where does India stand?

Immunisation helps half-a-billion children against a range of deadly diseases, preventing seven million future deaths in the process. The bottom line is that vaccination is about providing children with a lifetime of benefits. However, India has the largest number of unimmunised children which is 7.4 million, and the country also has the largest number of births per year (26 million). Nearly 90 per cent of children in India are born in government or private facilities. According to the latest statistics released by NSO for immunisation, 98 per cent of the children born in the urban setting get at least one vaccine between the age group of zero to five years, but the number goes down to about 61 per cent when it comes to the children being fully vaccinated. Similarly, when it comes to the rural setting, 97 per cent of the children between the age group of zero to five years get at least one vaccine but the number again goes down to 58 per cent, who were fully vaccinated.

What was the idea behind setting up ImmunifyMe? When was it found?