Overview

• Union Health Ministry data show the proportion of children who received no routine vaccines fell from 0.11% in 2023 to 0.06% in 2024.
• India’s routine immunisation strategy has achieved coverage above global averages for all antigens, including 93% DTP1 and 93% measles vaccination rates in 2023.
• The Zero Dose Implementation Plan 2024 has been rolled out in 143 high-burden districts across 11 states to target unvaccinated populations.
• Under Mission Indradhanush last year, 5.46 crore children and 1.32 crore pregnant women were vaccinated, complementing the Universal Immunisation Programme’s free vaccines for 29 million pregnant women and 26 million infants annually.
• Expanded immunisation efforts have contributed to India’s elimination of polio in 2014 and maternal and neonatal tetanus in 2015, driving an 86% decline in infant mortality and a 78% reduction in under-five deaths since 1990.