Awareness of Measles -Rubella vaccine campaign and its coverage in rural areas of Maharashtra .

Introduction: Measles and rubella are among the most infectious diseases of humans.Measles can be deadly for children with poor nutrition and weakened immune systems. Rubella is also very contagious but causes relatively mild disease in children; in pregnant women, rubella can lead to miscarriage or severe birth defects (congenital rubella syndrome), The Government is providing Measles-Rubella vaccine free of cost through its immunization programme but still the immunization rate remains low in some areas. Aims and Objectives: The study was carried out to assess the awareness of the MR vaccine campaign and its coverage in rural areas of Maharashtra. Materials and Methods: An observational, cross‑sectional conducted. 250 parents having children between 9 months to 15 years were interviewed using a pretested questionnaire. Results: 73% of the parents were found aware about MR campaign. 47% of the parents had MR vaccination campaign knowledge through health worker. A strong association between awareness of MR vaccination and practice of MR vaccine. Conclusion: The most important factor affecting parental practice is communication between parents and the sources of information or immunization providers. Improving communication will improve parents’ perceptions of the benefits and risks of vaccines.