“If we succeed in Malappuram, we succeed in Kerala.” These words of District Medical Officer K. Sakeena sparked a debate during a workshop ahead of the measles-rubella (MR) vaccination campaign launch here the other day. The arguments soon turned to the core issue of the district’s resistance to the government’s immunisation programmes.
Dr. Sakeena had a point there. Malappuram continues to resist various immunisation programmes of the government. The concerted and focused efforts of the health authorities in the wake of a few diphtheria deaths in the district have had their results. Yet the district, which tops the State with 4.8 million population, is ahead of others in saying ‘no’ the vaccine.
The anti-vaccine lobby in the district has different colours and forms. When some come out blatantly against the vaccines of modern medicine, some others conveniently take recourse behind such medical streams as homoeopathy and naturopathy. As none of these medical streams questions the authenticity of modern medicine, there is no apparent clash between them. But behind their back, they despise each other.
“The people of Malappuram are ignorant,” commented Dr. Sakeena, igniting yet another round of protest and arguments. Such an incisive and acerbic comment from a senior doctor born and brought up in Malappuram is more than what an average Malappuramite can take. But the DMO has been nonchalant as she was speaking from her experience.
Large sections of people in Malappuram are easily swayed by the information they get from various sources, including social media. In most families, particularly among Muslims, men continue to be the decision makers when it comes to crucial matters about their children. “This is one of the factors that prevent some women from administering vaccines to their children, in spite of them being educated and being aware of the vaccine advantages,” said Deputy Medical Officer R. Renuka.
With their men either being away and unreachable for the health authorities or being hardened by the sensitive messages spread by the anti-vaccine lobby, the women find limited choice in allowing their children to take the vaccine. There have been cases of women taking vaccines for their children secretly without letting their husbands know about it.
There are certain corners in the district where health workers fear to tread. The resistance to immunisation from such corners is so strong that health workers have a tough time convincing the naysayers. “It’s not a question of facing any physical threat. It is a question of facing such an emphatic ‘no’ which is as good as telling us to get lost,” said a health inspector seeking anonymity.
Although the Muslim community, diversified into various groups of Sunnis, Mujahids and Jamat-e-Islami, has by and large been supporting the vaccination programmes in the district, a minuscule section continues to refuse to be part of the vaccine net. They prefer not to raise their voice against the vaccine, but still refuse to agree with its benefits. Some of them have been portraying the vaccine as an infringement on their faith. Video clippings of speeches, made accidentally or out of ignorance, are still being circulated by the anti-vaccine lobby in spite of the speakers having changed their views.
Religious groups
Resistance from religious groups has come down drastically. No religious group speaks against immunisation these days. Rather, several religious leaders such as Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, Sayed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari, and Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar have come out in support of the immunisation campaign. Their advocacy for vaccine has had its results. Yet some religious groups are conveniently tugging their confusion under the pretext of ‘personal choice’. For them, it is purely a personal choice and nothing more than that.
More than 1.2 million children in the district are to be covered through 13,185 sessions of MR campaign.
“It is no hyperbole that if we succeed in Malappuram, we succeed in Kerala. The number of children in Malappuram alone is more than the total population of a district like Pathanamthitta. Forty-eight lakh population is quite huge for a district. You must see the statement in this context,” points out Deputy District Medical Officer A. Shibulal.