SHILLONG/TURA/NONGPOH/MAWKYRWAT: The Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign was launched across the state on Monday even as a few hurdles remained on the way of the government to achieve its target.
In the city, the campaign was launched at Pine Mount School in presence of Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui as chief guest.
The state government had held a series of awareness programmes in the run-up to the launch. Despite these, teams working at the ground level faced resistance in any places, especially in rural areas. In Garo Hills, prejudice and superstition prompted many parents to stay away and several rural schools remained shut due to absence of students.
Reports were trickling in from several places in the rural belt of Garo Hills where parents, out of superstition, have been opposing the vaccination drive even though many others came forward to participate in the programme.
While the highest number of vaccination was recorded in schools across Tura, Williamnagar, Baghmara, Resubelpara and Ampati, schools in Gasuapara, Jatrakona and Dimapara area, located close to the international border with Bangladesh in South Garo Hills, were found closed when vaccination teams arrived in the morning.
“In one school in Jatrakona, due to fake news and superstition, children had not attended classes for an entire week and only one lone teacher was present when our vaccination team visited the school,” inform medical sources from South Garo Hills.
In Chokpot region of south Garo Hills, out of 18 schools where children were to get their MR vaccine, only three were open with less students.
“What was most glaring was that it was not only the students who remained absent, but even the teachers and headmaster did not turn up to open the schools,” said a member of the vaccination team.
Failure on the part of teachers to mobilise parents in villages about the benefits of having the MR vaccine for their children is learnt to have been one of the main reasons for the initial hiccups. Similar reports of schools remaining closed have come in from the plains belt region of West Garo Hills.
When vaccination teams visited the areas where schools did not open, they were met by some parents who informed them that they would prefer to go through the vaccination process after seeing the results of other places.
“It appears they want to wait and watch the outcome from other areas before joining the vaccination drive,” said doctors from Tura who are monitoring the programme in the plains belt region.
A total of 262 schools in West Garo Hills district are targeted for the vaccination programme.
“A healthy body results in a healthy mind. Therefore, we should invest in the health of children as the future of the state will be unhealthy if the children are not healthy,” said Rymbui in Shillong.
The campaign was launched at St Paul’s School in Nongpoh by local MLA Mayralborn Syiem.
Syiem appreciated the Health Department and the district administration for their efforts in implementing “such an important programme”.
In South West Khasi Hills, 24.58 per cent of the targeted children were vaccinated in only eight days.
South West Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo said as many as 9,469 children of the total target 38,520 have been vaccinated in schools and villages in a week.
The campaigned started in the district on September 24.“Vaccination was smooth at all the session sites even though there were schools with low achievement of 30-40 per cent and some with high percentage of 80 above,” Laloo said.
