Kolkata: Child in Need Institute (CINI) recently celebrated the country’s victory over polio and organised a multi-stakeholder learning and sharing workshop on the occasion of the National Immunization Day in partnership with the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal and MCHI Centre, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Asim Das Malakar, Joint DHS & State Family Welfare Officer, Government of West Bengal, Dr. Jayanta Sukul, ADHS-EPI, Dept. of Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Samir Chaudhuri, Founder Secretary, Child in Need Institute, Meghendra Banerjee, Chief of Programmes, CINI, Sujoy Roy, National Advocacy Officer, CINI, were present to inaugurate the event.
The workshop aimed at disseminating organizational learnings, strategies, related to sustainable community-level interventions and convergence mechanisms in the area of Routine Immunization as well as to facilitate learning from technical experts and community advocates.
Dr. Aastha Kanth, Assistant Director, MCHI Centre, Johns Hopkins highlighted the Centre’s vision and their partnership with CINI. The workshop was also attended by other representatives from various Government Departments, Development Partners and Academic Institutions.
Dr. Samir Chaudhuri, Founder Secretary, Child in Need Institute, said, “Our mission is to ensure that children achieve their rights to health, nutrition and education by making duty bearers and communities responsive to their well-being. Immunization is the most effective way of preventing highly infectious and fatal diseases. The way we defeated Polio with proper vaccination and massive outreach, likewise we would also be able to come over COVID19 by getting everyone vaccinated.”
Officials from the State Government and experts from UNICEF, WHO and UNDP focussed on the persisting challenges in ensuring Routine Immunization services in West Bengal against the backdrop of COVID-19.
