According to Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, The Health Ministry has drawn an ambitious plan under the 100-days agenda of the newly elected government, wherein it has been decided to provide Rotavirus vaccine to every child across all 36 states and UTs by September 2019.

Minister also said that Diarrhoea is one of the biggest killers in children and Rotavirus is one of the most common causes of severe diarrhoea in children less than 2 years of age. 

In India, every year 37 out of every 1000 children born are unable to celebrate their 5th birthday, and one of the major reasons for this is diarrheal deaths.

Out of all the causes of diarrhoea, rotavirus is a leading cause of diarrhoea in children less than 5 years of age. It is estimated that rotavirus cause 8,72,000 hospitalizations; 32,70,000 outpatient visits and estimated 78,000 deaths annually in India.

Keeping in view the burden of disease which can be prevented through vaccination, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), an expert committee, recommended the introduction of rotavirus vaccine (RVV) in the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).

Three doses of rotavirus vaccine are provided along with other vaccines, free of cost under UIP at one and a half month, two and half month, and three and half month of age of the child.

Rotavirus vaccine was introduced in 2016 in a phased manner, beginning with 4 states initially and later expanded to 7 more states making it a total of 11 states by end of 2018, where Rotavirus vaccine was available in the country.

At present, the vaccine has been further expanded to 17 more states till now. Rotavirus vaccine is now available in 28 States/UTs, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Tripura, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Goa, Chandigarh, Nagaland, Delhi, Mizoram, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 

The vaccine is expected to be available in all 36 States/UTs by September 2019.