JSI Homepage || Immunization Technical Support Unit (ITSU)

Duration

2012-2027

Key Partners

Immunization Division, MoHFW, UNICEF, UNDP And WHO

Services

Equitable coverage

The Immunization Technical Support Unit (ITSU) was formed by the Government of India to rapidly augment the capacity of the Immunization Division of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), in response to the recommendation of the Mavalankar Committee Report, with a clear consensus on the gradual uptake of ITSU’s critical interventions by MoHFW, to ensure the sustainability of its technical unit. ITSU was set up in 2012 as an alliance involving the MoHFW, Gates Foundation (previously known as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-BMGF), and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), to serve as a strategic think-tank, providing techno-managerial support for scaling up the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) in the country. In June 2017, ITSU was transitioned from PHFI to John Snow India Pvt. Ltd. Since then, JSIPL has been anchoring the ITSU to support the Government of India's efforts to advance the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP)

Key Objectives

To provide techno-managerial support to the Immunization Division of MoHFW for scaling up the national UIP; bolstering national and sub-national capacities

Health Systems strengthening through aggressive reviews and monitoring

Strengthening data use and action

Building evidence to support policy

Creating enabling social and behaviour change communication strategies for demand generation for RI and addressing vaccine hesitancy

Working closely with immunization partners, including UNICEF, WHO, GAVI, UNDP, and others, across various areas of RI

Since its inception, ITSU’s support and programmatic interventions have been strategically aligned towards improving the national Routine Immunization (RI) coverage, placing equity and quality at the centre of all its interventions, strengthening health systems, demand generation, and generating evidence to guide policy decisions, which have deeply contributed to achieving significant gains under the UIP. ITSU is providing all techno-managerial support to achieve this milestone and scale up efforts to reach the last mile, ensuring that every child receives full immunization coverage against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases under UIP. India has shown tremendous improvement in Immunization Coverage, and all efforts are being made to vaccinate every child with vaccines available under the UIP of India. Efforts are underway in full steam in the entire country to eliminate Measles and Rubella by the end of 2026.