India Rejects UNICEF's Report on Zero-Dose Children as Incomplete

New Delhi- In a statement issued on Thursday, the government stated that the UNICEF report depicting a high number of zero-dose children in India is "incomplete."

According to the government, the UNICEF report does not take into account the country's population size and vaccination coverage when compared to other countries.

The government also claimed that the reports presented a "flawed comparison" with countries without considering India's population and high vaccination coverage.

In order to assert the accuracy of the data, the government urged people to look into the complete and comprehensive data regarding immunization efforts.

The Ministry highlighted that, as a percentage of the total population, zero-dose children account for 0.11 percent of the country's total population. It observed that due to India's large population size, it has the highest number of vaccinated children across countries.

The Health Minister asserted that the country's full immunization coverage for the financial year 2023-24 stands at 93.23 percent and India's Immunisation Programme is the largest Public Health Initiative globally.

The statement also noted that the programme targets a massive cohort of 2.6 crore children and 2.9 crore pregnant women annually through 1.2 crore vaccination sessions.

Under Mission Indradhanush, 5.46 crore children and 1.32 crore pregnant women have been vaccinated till 2023.