Our Bureau
TURA/SHILLONG: Medical experts have urged parents, guardians and stakeholders in Garo Hills to ensure that children in the age group of nine months to 15 years are given the latest vaccination against Measles and Rubella.
The mass immunisation drive begins from October 1 throughout Meghalaya, including the five districts of Garo Hills.
The Health Department organised a media sensitisation workshop at the DC office here on Thursday to highlight the dangers from these two diseases which can cause severe complications such as Encephalitis (swelling of the brain), pneumonia, diarrhoea and even death.
Doctors attending the programme said last year two cases of Rubella infection were detected at Darengre primary health centre and Dobasipara urban health centre.
Recently, a suspected outbreak of measles has been detected in the Dadenggre civil-sub-division area and the Health Department is awaiting results of samples taken from the patients.
To make matters worse, people in certain areas have been refusing to join the immunisation programme after fake news on social media created fear psychosis among parents.
To quell these rumours, a massive awareness programme has begun ahead of the immunisation drive.
“Children in the age of 9 months to 15 years are most vulnerable against these two diseases and there are 1,70,081 children in West Garo Hills that is targeted for vaccination,” said Dr Ivory A Sangma and Dr Ivonne M Sangma while addressing the media during the media sensitisation programme in the deputy commissioner’s chamber.
The single doze vaccine injection that is to be administered on children to protect them against the two diseases has been produced and manufactured in India and approved by the World Health Organisation, it was informed.
In their drive to eliminate Measles and control Rubella, medical teams are facing multiple challenges.
In the remote Purakhasia region bordering neighbouring Bangladesh, one group of inhabitants who have never taken any vaccination and follow their own religious sect remain opposed to any immunisation programme.
Even in the heart of Tura town, some families living in the Daldagre and Rongkha Chiring areas have been opposing the vaccination campaign.
Similarly, there have been pockets of resistance to vaccination in some densely populated plains belt region of West Garo Hills.Rumours about the vaccine causing infertility had created a stir among sections of the people in the plains.
“There is no link between the Measles-Rubella vaccine and infertility,” said doctors. The government is aiming at hundred percent coverage of the mass vaccination that starts from September 24 across the state. Commissioner and Secretary of Social Welfare department T Dkhar said in Shillong, “If children are not immunised, sickness will be there.”
Asserting that the diseases need to be nipped in the bud, Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department Pravin Bakshi said, “Measles and Rubella need to be eradicated from the state.”
Asked on the stiff resistance faced by by those involved with the vaccination drive, especially in remote areas, Bakshi said, “We accept that there are some pockets in the state where people are resistant of the vaccine. In technical terms, it is called, vaccine hesitancy.”
“The only way it can be won over is by continuous advocacy and community participation. Religious leaders and traditional heads should be active and encourage the people to take the vaccine to prevent children from the dreadful diseases,” he added. Bakshi informed that the Archbishop of Shillong, Dominic Jala has given his support to the measles-rubella campaign and appealed all Catholic institutions to be part of the campaign.
Talking about the resistance, Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh, who also participated in the programme in Tura, said, “This is basically due to lack of awareness and the spread of fake news on social media. I met community leaders, teachers and students in two schools and was able to clear the air on the issue.”
Singh appealed to the press to clarify especially if there is any negative issue regarding the vaccination “since negative impact is very difficult to remove from the minds of the people”. He informed that Meghalaya will be the 25th state to conduct the vaccination campaign while other states, including Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, have successfully conducted it in their respective states.