Kerala: Mosques' leg-up for vaccination

Kozhikode: The government agencies are taking the immunisation campaign directly to the religious leaders, who have agreed to show  power point presentations and research reports in mosques  for the believers. This  follows the failure of the efforts to spread the campaign to the interiors of the district where there was  opposition from some  Muslim families, citing religious restrictions. Officials from the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), that funds the immunisation drive,  said that the religious aspects were being misquoted by some physicians in alternative medicine.

However, they added that all the physicians could not be blamed. Kozhikode: “Some of the propagandists are opposing  immunisation and  misusing religion for their convenience. Once the religious leaders themselves clear the air about immunisation, there would not be any problem for the community members. There is no religious hindrance  to  immunisation. We observed the month of immunisation last month and many families in Vanimel, Nadapuram, Valayam, Chekkiyad and Mukkom objected to immunisation,” said NRHM district programme manager Dr E. Bijoy.

The drive is being implemented by the health department and it has  approached the religious leaders, who will explain  the merits of immunisation in mosques this month, said Dr Bijoy. The Childline officials had conducted a ‘Balasuraksha yathra’ in the district  and submitted a comprehensive report to the district collector mentioning that the rights of the children, including immunisation,  were denied in the rural areas.  The NRHM intervened following the report.