National Zero Measles-Rubella Elimination Campaign

On 24th April 2025, Union Minister for Health, launched the National Zero Measles-Rubella (MR) Elimination Campaign to achieve the goal of eliminating Measles and Rubella by 2026, marking the beginning of World Immunization Week.

Key Points

Campaign Launch: Virtually launched, the MR Elimination Campaign will run from 2025 to 2026.
Awareness Drive: Multilingual IEC materials, including posters, radio jingles, and campaign films, will be distributed across all States and Union Territories to increase public participation.
Immunization Target: The goal is to achieve 100% immunization coverage, ensuring no child is left behind in preventing these highly contagious diseases.
Progress Achieved: As of March 2025, 332 districts reported zero measles cases, and 487 reported zero rubella cases.
Global Recognition: India received the prestigious Measles and Rubella Champion Award in March 2024 for its efforts in immunization.
Key Strategies: The focus is on achieving over 95% vaccination coverage, maintaining a sensitive surveillance system, ensuring quick outbreak responses, and building inter-departmental collaborations.
Vaccine Coverage: The current MR vaccine coverage stands at 93.7% for the first dose and 92.2% for the second dose, with significant declines in measles (73%) and rubella (17%) cases in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Universal Immunization Programme (UIP): India’s UIP remains the world’s largest, vaccinating millions of pregnant women and newborns annually against various diseases.