Most parents in the country still do not maintain a vaccination immunisation calendar, and miss out on vaccine doses for their children, said doctors associated with the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) on Thursday.

Speaking to mediapersons, Dr Pramod Jog, president of IAP, said that every year, vaccine preventable diseases account for over 1.5 million deaths and about 1 million disabilities in children under 5 years of age in India. “In India, the percentage of children between 12–23 months of age who received all recommended vaccines on time is just 51.6% as parents do not maintain a vaccination calendar and often forget to vaccinate the child on time in a disciplined manner. This default is observed in both urban and rural areas,” said Dr Jog.

Doctors emphasised that it is important to administer vaccinations for the top life-threatening vaccine preventable diseases in India such as pneumonia, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, rotavirus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B.

It was close this immunisation gap that Immunize India Charity launched a vaccine reminder program in association with IAP in 2014.

IAP-Immunize India is a free-of-cost SMS based vaccination reminder service which is nationally available across all mobile networks in India. Since almost every adult in urban and rural areas have mobile phones, the SMS reminder service is the most cost-effective reminder that a vaccination is due.

Doctors at the conference said Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan have recorded 1.12 lakh registrations.

Dr Jog said that many infants were missing out regular vaccinations and these lapses are responsible for increased rates of child morbidity and mortality in India which can definitely be avoided.

The SMS reminder service is the most cost-effective reminder that a vaccination is due