A study by the Union Health Ministry and global health organisations found that introducing the Hexavalent (six-in-one) vaccine in India's Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) could improve efficiency.
It protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and polio, reducing injections for infants, health-worker workload and cold-chain needs. India vaccinates about 26 million infants a year. Though initially costlier, a lower price could bring net savings, and the vaccine could replace the Pentavalent and fractional IPV doses.