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Bill Gates lauds India's achievement on inoculating 100 Cr citizens !
/
Bill Gates lauds India's achievement on inoculating 100 Cr citizens !
Bill Gates lauds India's achievement on inoculating 100 Cr citizens !
Bill Gates lauds India's achievement on inoculating 100 Cr citizens !
UPDATED : ஜன 01, 1970 05:30 AM
ADDED : அக் 25, 2021 12:00 AM
நிறம் மற்றும் எழுத்துரு அளவு மாற்ற
Now, India has achieved another milestone:
administering more than 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
This vaccine drive is the largest, and one of the
fastest, ever. Estimates suggest that more than 75% of India’s adult population
has received a first dose and over 31% has received a second
dose; more than 48% of whom are women.
Given the country’s size and population, its
transmission levels directly impact the time frame within which the world can
end the crisis phase of this borderless pandemic.
First, the political will has been strong from top
to bottom. Led by Prime Minister Modi's vision to vaccinate all eligible Indian
adults against COVID-19 by 31 December 2021, state and
district leaders have responded with urgency.
Second, India, which has successfully implemented
many mass-immunization campaigns, has leveraged its long-standing experience, knowledge, and infrastructure to fight COVID-19.
India’s Universal Immunization Programme is one of the world's most extensive
public health programs.
During the pandemic, this infrastructure has
proved crucial. There are nearly 348,000 public centers and over 28,000 private
centers currently administering COVID-19 vaccines in
India, which cover the toughest terrains in the North and the Northeast,
including flood prone areas.
Further, India’s over 2.3 million ASHA and
Anganwadi women frontline workers were trained along with millions of doctors,
nurses, and auxiliary nurse midwives to ensure that COVID-19
vaccines are delivered equitably, everywhere in the country.
Third, India has harnessed its expertise in
vaccine and drug discovery and manufacturing. Before the pandemic, Indian
vaccines had already saved millions of lives from
infectious diseases like meningitis, pneumonia, and diarrhea.
Our foundation has been proud to work with the
Government of India and many Indian manufacturers, including Serum Institute,
Bharat Biotech, and BioE, to help make these safe and affordable vaccines
available across India and to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Fourth,India has used its IT prowess to digitally
monitor the national vaccination effort. For example, CoWIN–anopen-source
platform created in India—tracks vaccine appointments
scheduling,provides verifiable digital vaccine certification and enables
analysis of vaccine trends and breakthrough infections.
Fifth, the most important component of any health
program is people’s participation, and the Indian people have made COVID-19 vaccination a success. Drawing on experience from
the polio elimination program, the Center and State governments focused on
mobilizing the population. Delivered messages through
national and local influencers to address issues of hesitancy, engaged local
government and self-help groups to generate demand,used
sophisticated digital strategies to address misinformation and disinformation,
and conducted mass media campaigns and vaccine festivals or
‘mahostavs'.The Indian people responded.
It is an outrage that vaccines are distributed
inequitably: less than 3% of people in low-income countries have received a
dose. The answer lies in producing many more vaccines, and faster. This will
require ramping up global manufacturing capacity for vaccines.India is poised
to help with this as it accelerates vaccine exports, to increase access to
COVID-19 vaccines for LMICs through the COVAX and Vaccine Maitri initiatives.
India makes me hopeful because it shows how
countries can, with strong leadership and consistent investments in health
systems and R&D, protect the health of their people.
Bill Gates is Co-chair Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation.
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