Dose by dose: Story of India's vaccine evolution
As we enter World Immunisation Week, it would be interesting to look at India's immunisation journey which began over two centuries ago when the country's first smallpox vaccine was administered in Mumbai in 1802, laying the foundation for public preventative health care.
More than a century later, preventative immunisation began in earnest in 1948 with the adoption of the International Tuberculosis Campaign, an initiative designed to stop the potentially deadly bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs and killed an estimated 500,000 people a year in India in the late 1940s.
Yet it wasn't until 1978 that India reached a turning point in its vaccine delivery framework and ability to deliver broader protective health care at scale. That year, the country launched the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI)—later renamed the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP)— providing free vaccines against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, including tuberculosis, polio, measles, and hepatitis B for mothers and children.
Today, it stands as one of the world's largest public health programmes, and as one of the world's largest national immunisation programmes, the UIP reaches over 2.67 crore newborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women annually.
Notably, under the aegis of UIP, polio eradication became one of the earliest and most prominent successes for Indian health care. Thanks to years of sustained immunisation drives and nationwide campaigns, and to support from policymakers, health workers, volunteers, Rotary clubs, and other partners, India, part of the World Health Organization's Southeast Asia Region, was certified polio-free in 2014—a significant model for the world to follow.
Despite the country's success in stopping polio, high population density, poor sanitation, the prevalence of marginalised and/or inaccessible communities, and vaccine hesitancy remained. These public health challenges led our government to launch Mission Indradhanush (MI) in December 2014.
Concentrated on 'addressing gaps in immunisation coverage and ensuring that essential vaccines reach those who need them most,' MI focuses on vaccinating women and children against a host of diseases, including diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, and tuberculosis, meningitis and pneumonia caused by haemophilus influenzae. The initiative has completed twelve phases so far, covering 554 districts across the country, and will continue to provide immunisation coverage to those in need.
In 2023-24, India reached full, national immunisation coverage — a milestone made possible through the consistent and extensive efforts of programs like UIP and MI. Alongside domestic progress, India is also ensuring global progress toward equitable access to vaccines as the largest vaccine producer in the world. Covering 60% of the global vaccine supply, India is remarkably one of the biggest suppliers of low-cost vaccines in the world. During the pandemic, India exported over 298 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to nearly 100 countries during the Vaccine Maitri initiative.
Now, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-integrated innovations such as the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) app, a platform that electronically tracks vaccine supply, allow us to further modernise health care delivery across the nation.
This article is authored by Deepak Kapur, chairman, Rotary International India's National PolioPlus Committee (RI-INPPC).
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