Polio drive targets specific communities
WHO doctor asks community leaders to take part
SWATEE KHER
A s BMC officials get ready for the last leg of the additional intensified
polio drive on April 29, the civic body is also trying to approach the issue
from a sociological perspective. This time, the drive aims to reach specific
sections of society – which have hitherto resisted the drive- and spread
polio awareness among them. And they also have an expert in the city to help
them out.
Dr Mujeeb Sayeed, who is associated with the World Health Organisation
(WHO), is overseeing the social mobilisation aspect of the city’s polio
drive. Sayeed has earlier worked in Uttar Pradesh, where the polio drive
included reaching out to minority communities and appealing to their leaders
to actively participate in the drive.
BMC has also organised a large-scale meeting on April 26; over 300 leaders
from various minority organisations are expected to participate and address
the crowd. “We will request the leaders to urge the public to participate in
the drive. We will also ask them to make specific announcement about the
polio campaign during Friday’s namaz,” said Jayaraj Thanekar, executive
health officer, BMC.
As per the national polio plan, the drive has to be conducted five to six
times before the monsoon sets in. The final round of pulse polio drive will
be conducted on April 29.
Dr Sayeed has already met minority leaders in the areas of Govandi,
Bainganwadi, Pathanwadi and asked them to participate in the polio campaign.
“He has been meeting imams and leaders of the community individually. He
also held a meeting with Kherwadi residents and showed them the appeal
letters signed by leaders from UP,” explained Dr Usha Ubale, who is
in-charge of the BMC polio programme.
Certain myths and misconceptions about the polio vaccine make people
reluctant to take part in the vaccination drive. While some believe that it
leads to impotency, others claim that only outdated vaccines are imported to
target a specific community.
Health officials in Uttar Pradesh had devised certain plans to help the
public see through these myths, so that they stop resisting the drive. Dr
Sayeed is adopting a similar strategy in Mumbai – he, along with health
officials, has already held meetings with leaders from the Deobandi and
Barelvi communities.
“We are trying to get the issue popularised through editorials in Urdu
newspapers. These are plans to reach out to the unserved populations. Right
now, majority of the leaders we are approaching are from the Muslim
community, but we are also trying to reach out to Christian leaders,” said
Dr Ubale.
Apart from this, another idea doing the rounds of BMC’s Health Department is
to have medical interns participate in the week-long follow up to the pulse
polio day on April 29.
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