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PESHAWAR: The government is exploring options to deal with the fear created after last Monday's incident in which thousands of children were briefly hospitalized for "reacting" to the polio vaccine.
Options include reducing the number of national polio vaccination and under-vaccination campaigns, sources said.
They indicated that currently, nine national vaccination campaigns, spaced six weeks apart, had been conducted in the province, while four anti-polio campaigns of under-vaccination had taken place in the selected districts. This means that the immunization staff visited each household an average of 10 times a month, which created doubts in the minds of people, they added.
Frequent campaigns have also uncovered health workers, who have enraged some people by knocking on their doors more often. "The new strategy aims to move from a high-level company to a less active company," sources said.
New strategy to include reducing the number of vaccination campaigns
During each campaign, the health department deployed about 60,000 people, including members of the security forces, which created a war situation while the closely guarded vaccinators administered the children. The new option should be adopted and the polio vaccination campaign will be held quarterly.
This will not only eliminate prevalence fatigue among staff but also create a demand for OPV.
The reduction of the campaign against polio will also reduce costs by 50%, which is millions of rupees. The incident also forced the health department to mark World Immunization Week by organizing awareness programs at the provincial and district levels.
The provincial government deploys vaccinators every year to vaccinate children. He has now decided to increase public awareness rather than vaccination against threats to vaccinators after the crisis.
However, the government's response to the tragedy is total. The aggressive approach is unlikely to eliminate rumors about OPV.
Resolute vaccine opponents preach in their neighborhoods and argue that the government does not treat hospitalized people against deadly diseases, but sues children in schools, homes and on the roads for polio vaccination as part of the "conspiracy" international ".
Gullible parents accept the argument because they do not know that polio is the only childhood disease that can be completely eradicated, as it has been uprooted around the world, with the exception of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria .
It is now obvious to everyone that the hysteria created by the rivals was a tragedy, but the overreaction of the government has created a strange situation.
On social networks, images show how targeted children climb trees to avoid vaccination. Health workers are seen on the same trees after the children to administer OPV. Another video shows dozens of schoolchildren immediately scattering in a playground when a person in the background shouts that vaccinators are coming.
Private school owners announced at a press conference that they would not allow vaccination and suggested home vaccination in the presence of parents. An incident investigation identified people who played a negative role and played a key role in staging the drama of the day.
In contrast to polio vaccination, about 90% of vaccinations in the 1,295 EPI centers located in provincial health facilities are immunized. Parents take the children to the centers, but they refuse to administer anti-polio drops to their children on their doorstep.
Posted in Dawn, April 29, 2019
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