Jammu, Nov 29: No fresh case of polio has been reported in any part of Jammu and Kashmir this year, endorsing the effectiveness of the sustained immunisation drive against the disease, state Minister for Health and Medical Education Lal Singh said today. Chairing a meeting of senior functionaries of the department here, he said a new programme had been launched by the department of family welfare and reproductive and child health care in the two capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, to improve the routine vaccine-preventable disease immunization.
Under the programme, district level officers would receive expert training at the PGI Chandigarh on various facets of immunization, Singh said.
The minister also said there were plans to broaden the scope of training of traditional birth attendants (TBAs). Initially, the training of TBAs would be started in Rajouri and Udhampur districts of Jammu division, where the safe delivery rate is reportedly less than 30 per cent.
He said the government would extend the programme to cover all districts, and would educate the already practicing medics regarding ante-natal check up, identify high-risk pregnancies, counseling and conduct of safe normal deliveries apart from checking neonatal and maternal mortality.
The referral of high-risk pregnant women to the health institutions would increase through the trained TBAs, he claimed.
Bureau Report