The immunisation survey published in The Lancet, placing India among the eight countries housing more than half of the world’s unvaccinated children, serves as a sobering reminder of how far we still have to go in ensuring basic health rights for our youngest citizens. The data is not just an alarming statistical snapshot; it is a reflection of deep-rooted structural issues-poverty, overpopulation, misinformation, apathy, and infrastructural gaps-that continue to put millions of children’s lives at risk. The fact that India alone accounts for 1.44 million zero-dose children in 2023, children who haven’t received even a single shot of the DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) vaccine, underscores the gravity of the crisis. Children are the bedrock of any nation’s future. Their health is not merely a welfare issue but a strategic imperative. A nation that fails to protect its children from preventable diseases like measles, polio, and diphtheria is failing its future. Despite India’s significant strides in vaccine delivery through programs like Mission Indradhanush and a robust universal immunisation program, the problem clearly persists-especially in underprivileged and densely populated regions.
At the heart of the crisis lies India’s population explosion, which has rendered most databases ineffective or obsolete. There is no exact accounting of how many children are born each year, let alone how many remain unvaccinated. This uncertainty hampers not just policy formulation but also effective field-level execution of vaccination drives. When families are battling daily to afford two square meals, ensuring a child is vaccinated-even when free-is often not a priority. Ignorance and neglect play a bigger role than availability or accessibility. The health of children becomes the first casualty in the long list of deprivations these families endure. Awareness campaigns, while necessary, have had limited impact. Posters, announcements, and occasional community meetings fail to create the urgency needed to move the needle on childhood immunisation. What we need now is a paradigm shift-an out-of-the-box approach that can deliver real results on the ground.
One actionable strategy would be to link key Government welfare schemes-like free ration distribution, housing benefits, or even school admissions-with the possession of up-to-date vaccination certificates. While critics may argue that this could penalise the poor, the intent is not to deny aid but to ensure accountability and responsible participation. A region-sensitive model must be crafted so that the linkages don’t exacerbate hardship but instead drive awareness and compliance. The role of grassroots-level workers such as ASHA workers, Anganwadi staff, and local NGOs is indispensable in this mission. These are the people who have access to families, especially in remote and slum areas, and can be empowered with better training, incentives, and resources to monitor and facilitate immunisation. Community influencers, including religious leaders and school teachers, must be roped in to counter vaccine hesitancy, which has found fertile ground through the internet and unverified social media claims.
The budgetary allocation is another critical lever. The health budget must carve out a substantial and dedicated share for child immunisation efforts. It must be considered as important, if not more, than large infrastructure projects or defence spending. Efforts must mirror the scale and urgency of India’s past polio eradication campaign, which was a monumental success story. The same war footing model-consisting of micro-planning, aggressive follow-ups, door-to-door visits, and high public engagement-needs replication across all vaccines. The target of halving the number of zero-dose children by 2030 is not unattainable, but it will require consistency, vigilance, and unrelenting effort.
Progress may not come overnight. The road ahead is fraught with logistical, cultural, and economic challenges. But with a coordinated approach involving public participation, NGO involvement, Government accountability, and adequate funding, the landscape can be transformed. Each vaccinated child is not just protected from disease but is a step forward in building a healthier, stronger, and more equitable India. Anything less is a collective failure-and the consequences will be borne not just by the child but by the nation.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
