Gandhinagar, March 15 (IANS) Gujarat has achieved 95.95 per cent vaccination coverage under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) as part of the Sustainable Development Goal-3 Index, surpassing the national average of 93.23 per cent.

Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the state government has effectively implemented strategies to deliver vaccination services to newborns and pregnant women, leading to this positive outcome.

On the occasion of National Immunisation Day, the state Health department is also gearing up for a special immunisation campaign for measles and rubella on March 15 and 16.

In 2024, Gujarat recorded an average full immunisation coverage of 98 per cent for one-year-old children between April and February.

Key vaccination statistics include 96 per cent for Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), 95 per cent for Pentavalent (DPT+Hep-B+HiB), and 97 per cent for Measles-Rubella (MR).

Innovative initiatives such as ‘Dhanvantari Rath’, ‘Tika Express’, and ‘Mobile Mamta Day’ have contributed to this achievement, especially in remote areas.

Under the Intensified Mission Indradhanush, Gujarat successfully vaccinated 9,95,395 children and 2,25,960 pregnant women who missed regular immunisation.

The ‘Khile-Khilate’ campaign further ensured the vaccination of 25,736 children with crucial vaccines like BCG, Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), Pentavalent Vaccine, Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV), Rotavirus Vaccine, PCV, MR, and DPT between January 16 and 22, 2025.

Additionally, over the past three years, more than 1.8 million school and pre-school children received Tetanus-Diphtheria vaccines.

No polio cases have been reported in the state from 2007 to 2024.

On National Immunisation Day in 2024, 8.249 million children received polio doses across 33 districts, while on Sub-National Immunisation Day, 4.297 million children in 24 districts were immunised.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), India registered a total of 6,096,310 cognisable crimes in 2021, comprising 3,663,360 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 2,432,950 Special and Local Laws crimes.

This reflects a 7.65 per cent decrease from the 6,601,285 crimes reported in 2020.

Despite this decline, the crime rate per 100,000 people remained significant, decreasing from 487.8 in 2020 to 445.9 in 2021, yet still higher than the 385.5 rate observed in 2019.

In 2021, offences affecting the human body accounted for 30 per cent of all cognisable IPC crimes, while property-related offences constituted 20.8 per cent, and miscellaneous IPC crimes made up 29.7 per cent.

Specific crime rates per 100,000 population included a murder rate of 2.1, kidnapping at 7.4, and rape at 4.8.

The United Nations reported India’s homicide rate at 2.95 per 100,000 in 2020, totaling 40,651 cases, a decrease from a peak of 5.46 per 100,000 in 1992.

This rate has remained relatively stable since 2017, positioning India higher than most countries in Asia and Europe but lower than many in the Americas and Africa.

–IANS

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