Measles elimination and
accelerated rubella control is a flagship priority of the WHO South-East Asia
Region Office of World Health Organization. In 2013, the 66th session of the
WHO South-East Asia Regional Committee adopted the goal of measles elimination,
rubella and congenital rubella syndrome control by 2020. India with the
background of 37% of global measles mortality, 38% of global burden of
congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), and as a key member state and a signatory,
is committed to implement and accelerate measles elimination/rubella and CRS
control strategies to meet this goal.
India initiated a phased nationwide
supplementary immunization activity (SIA) to reach every child aged 9 months to
<15 years with a dose of measles-rubella (MR) vaccine. The first phase of
the measles rubella (MR) vaccination campaign was implemented in February-March
2017 in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. Phase II of the
campaign was implemented from August-October 2017 in eight states and UTs - Andhra
Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Dadra
Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
CCC-I undertook a rapid qualitative programmatic evaluation of MR campaign in selected districts of two states from Phase I (Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) and selected districts of two states from Phase II states - Telangana and Kerala. This entailed conducting concurrent monitoring and evaluation of preparedness and implementation of the campaign.
The qualitative evaluation of the MR vaccination campaign included a retrospective study of the campaign completed in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in February-March 2017, and evaluation of preparedness in Kerala and concurrent monitoring of its implementation in Telangana and Kerala. The objective of the campaign was to find out if the states followed the national MR campaign guidelines; the challenges in implementation of the guidelines and whether the current guidelines and implementation efforts to ensure quality of coverage in the MR SIAs are adequate? A total of 517 interactions and observations were covered as part of the study.
