Events
NDMC Talk Series: Invited talk by Dr. Meeta Vashi on routine immunization challenges in urban metropolitan cities
July 31, 2026
NDMC had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Meeta Vashi, Senior Surveillance Medical Officer at WHO India, for an invited talk on the challenges of achieving Routine Immunization (RI) targets in urban metropolitan cities.
Dr. Vashi began by highlighting the high burden of measles cases in Mumbai, concentrated in economically underdeveloped parts of the city. These areas also had lower rates of immunization, which underscores the importance of RI in preventing diseases such as measles.
She discussed several challenges to improving RI coverage, including difficulties in microplanning, limited community mobilization and awareness among underserved populations, shortages of frontline health workers such as ASHAs, migration and temporary urban settlements that make it difficult to accurately estimate target populations, and high levels of vaccine hesitancy in vulnerable communities.
These challenges contribute to high numbers of children who have not received even a single dose of vaccine, delayed vaccination, and drop-outs due to adverse events following immunization, vaccine refusals, or lack of awareness. Dr. Vashi also highlighted the need for better coordination with the private sector to improve access to hospital and infectious disease surveillance data. She also noted that timely vaccination is also a pressing challenge.
The talk was followed by a lively discussion on potential strategies to address these challenges. The insights shared by Dr. Vashi were particularly valuable for NDMC researchers, especially the measles modelling group led by Prof. Siuli Mukhopadhyay, as they continue to develop disease models that can support immunization programmes for effective disease control.