More Problems With Polio
Back in April, I blogged on the problems UNICEF and WHO were having in their polio vaccination drive in Nigeria. Some Islamic fundamentalists claimed that the program was an anti-Islamic plot by Western Imperialists, and thousands of mothers refused to have their children vaccinated against this terrible childhood disease. This misunderstanding has had, sadly, consequences that range beyond Africa.
In today's Washington Post I learned about the same kind of difficulty arising in Indonesia. This time, however, the misinformation came not from the Muslim clergy but from the Indonesian press.
DEPOK, Indonesia -- As a longtime health volunteer in the narrow alleys of her hillside neighborhood, Ebon Sunarti has focused on corralling other women into the local clinic so their toddlers could be vaccinated against a range of childhood diseases.
But when polio broke out in her province this year and the government launched a regional campaign to immunize all children under 5, this tough-minded mother held her own 3-year-old daughter back after seeing spurious television reports that the vaccine had made many youngsters sick, even killing a few.
Health officials believe that the current epidemic was caused by a single case which arrived from Nigeria (the country that was the locale of my earlier post). Because the disease is so communicable, the current campaign was undertaken. Unfortunately, the national press went crazy with a story that by all accounts was simply inaccurate.
...accounts of four children who died shortly afterward were reported at length in the national media. Though the World Health Organization determined that the deaths were unrelated to the vaccine, Indonesian health officials initially did little to debunk the rumors. So in a second round of vaccinations in June, intended to give the same children another crucial dose, many parents turned the health workers away, and about 725,000 fewer children got the vaccine. [Emphasis added]
Fortunately, the Muslim clergy in Indonesia were very cooperative with WHO and UNICEF in the aftermath:
...the country's most popular Muslim televangelist, Abdullah Gymnastiar, has been enlisted to publicize next week's drive. The Indonesian Council of Ulemas, or Muslim scholars, has issued a fatwa , or edict, endorsing the vaccine.
Unfortunately, the Indonesian press and many public health officials haven't been so cooperative, and, as a result, many Indonesian mothers are so frightened that the vaccine itself causes death that they are still hesitant about getting their children vaccinated.
The result may very well cause an expansion of the disease into Asia, and that qualified as another huge tragedy in the making.
In today's Washington Post I learned about the same kind of difficulty arising in Indonesia. This time, however, the misinformation came not from the Muslim clergy but from the Indonesian press.
DEPOK, Indonesia -- As a longtime health volunteer in the narrow alleys of her hillside neighborhood, Ebon Sunarti has focused on corralling other women into the local clinic so their toddlers could be vaccinated against a range of childhood diseases.
But when polio broke out in her province this year and the government launched a regional campaign to immunize all children under 5, this tough-minded mother held her own 3-year-old daughter back after seeing spurious television reports that the vaccine had made many youngsters sick, even killing a few.
Health officials believe that the current epidemic was caused by a single case which arrived from Nigeria (the country that was the locale of my earlier post). Because the disease is so communicable, the current campaign was undertaken. Unfortunately, the national press went crazy with a story that by all accounts was simply inaccurate.
...accounts of four children who died shortly afterward were reported at length in the national media. Though the World Health Organization determined that the deaths were unrelated to the vaccine, Indonesian health officials initially did little to debunk the rumors. So in a second round of vaccinations in June, intended to give the same children another crucial dose, many parents turned the health workers away, and about 725,000 fewer children got the vaccine. [Emphasis added]
Fortunately, the Muslim clergy in Indonesia were very cooperative with WHO and UNICEF in the aftermath:
...the country's most popular Muslim televangelist, Abdullah Gymnastiar, has been enlisted to publicize next week's drive. The Indonesian Council of Ulemas, or Muslim scholars, has issued a fatwa , or edict, endorsing the vaccine.
Unfortunately, the Indonesian press and many public health officials haven't been so cooperative, and, as a result, many Indonesian mothers are so frightened that the vaccine itself causes death that they are still hesitant about getting their children vaccinated.
The result may very well cause an expansion of the disease into Asia, and that qualified as another huge tragedy in the making.
posted by Diane at 4:46 AM
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