Based on the vaccines' cost and related expenditures, the Union Health Ministry's estimated budget for UIP will increase to Rs9,451 crore in 2017 from Rs4,570 crore in 2013
The road ahead for execution of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's ambitious plan of universal immunisation seems rough with the programme's budgetary requirements doubled in the past five years.
The immunization division of Union Health Ministry has projected that the government's immunisation budget will increase to Rs9,451 crore in 2017. It was Rs4,570 crore in 2013, based on the vaccines' cost and related expenditures.
The cost for vaccines only will be increased to Rs3,587.1 crore in 2017 from Rs510.6 crore in 2013. The cost for vaccines was Rs632.8 crore in 2014, Rs1,455.1 crore in 2015 and Rs1,769.9 crore in 2016. The budget was Rs632.8 crore in 2014, Rs1,455.1 crore in 2015 and Rs1,769.9 crore in 2016, respectively.
"We will have to invest in vaccines as immunisation is the only remedy to save lives. With Mission Indradhanush, we are strengthening the routine immunisation. We have achieved success of immunising 92 per cent children for only first doses," said Dr Pradeep Haldar, Deputy Commissioner, Immunization Division, Union Health Ministry.
The projected costs of vaccines were based on number of target children, number of doses, prices of the vaccines, wastage factor, and buffer stock. The population growth rate was assumed to be one per cent and the infant mortality rate was assumed to decrease from 44 per 1,000 in 2012 to 25 per 1,000 in 2017.
"We considered pentavalent, IPV, measles-rubella, rotavirus, and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine as new vaccines and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) as a limited used vaccines. JE is being used only in some states and in a few districts within the states," said Haldar.
The budget they have projected is still underestimated as they have not calculated some routine medicines, the officials said. "Paracetamol syrup and tablets are routinely given with DPT/pentavalent immunisation and vitamin A is given with measles doses, the costs of which are not included in this calculation. Hence, the total estimate was underestimated," said Haldar.
In the two phases of Mission Indradhanush, aiming at complete immunisation of children by 2020, 1.42 crore children and 36.7 lakh women were immunised in 20 lakh immunisation sessions. But, even after all these efforts from the government, over 75 lakh children continue to be unimmunised.
The Immunisation Division, studying the current costs and projected financial needs of India's Universal Immunization Programme (UIP), has said that as the total resource requirement increases steadily, the government health budget on immunisation needs to be increased in the coming years to fill the funding gap.
The cost components were immunisation personnel, vaccines and injection supplies, transportation, trainings, social mobilisation, advocacy and communication activities, disease surveillance, programme management, maintenance of cold chain and other equipments, and capital costs. The projections have also been published in the latest issue of Indian Journal of Medical Research. India's UIP is one of the largest programmes in the world in terms of quantities of vaccines administered, number of beneficiaries, number of immunisation sessions, geographical extent and diversity of areas covered.
The Ministry analysed the budget with immunisation partners, such as WHO and UNICEF.
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