Patna, Nov. 8: The state government, in collaboration with Unicef, is set to start the second phase of measles catch-up campaign from November 21 following the Union government’s initiative. Fifteen districts of the state will be covered during the campaign.

“During the second round, seven districts — Buxar, Jamui, Kaimur, Lakhisarai, Rohtas and Sheikhpura — will start their campaign from November 21. The remaining the eight — Banka, Bhagalpur, Champaran West, Gopalganj, Nalanda, Saran and Siwan — will start their campaign from December 19,” said Sanjay Kumar, health secretary-cum-executive director, Bihar Health Society.

He added: “During the second phase, a total of 93,41,267 children will be vaccinated. Total measles vaccine vials to be used during the campaign are 20,55,079. The measles campaign will be conducted over a period of three weeks. In the first week, it will be conducted in schools. In second and third weeks, all villages will be covered through fixed posts at pre-decided date and time. Special emphasis has been put to cover children in migratory population and underserved community.”

In the first phase, last December, five districts of Magadh division — Arwal, Aurangabad, Gaya, Jehanabad and Nawada — were covered.

Figures show that measles, a highly infectious disease caused by virus, kills near 1 lakh children in the country every year. It can cause complications such as diarrhoea and pneumonia, which can be fatal.

Sources said that the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has recommended a second dose of vaccine through measles catch-up campaign, covering children from nine months to 10 years of age in 14 states where regular immunisation coverage of measles is less than 80 per cent.

“Bihar is one such state where measles coverage is only 54.2 per cent. The catch-up campaign is being carried out in four phases and NTAGI recommends to vaccinate 13 crore children in 14 states. In our state, a total 2.3 crore children will be vaccinated. In the first phase, the quality of campaign was satisfactory covering a total of 24,63,528 children,” another senior health department official said.

Talking about the second phase, official said that during the period, all health facilities, including Primary Health Centre and above, will also provide measles vaccination and routine immunisation services will continue according to schedule on Wednesdays and Fridays.