More children skip polio immunization
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A mother walked her three-year-old daughter to a nearby health center for her third polio vaccination under the national campaign on Tuesday.
The first thing that the officer asked her was whether her child was healthy.
"If she is sick, we will not vaccinate her today. We will wait until she gets better," said Sadheli, an officer from the Pondok Pinang community health center.
"My daughter has a mild flu and cough. Is it OK?" said the mother. Sadheli sent her to consult with a doctor who suggested that they delay the vaccination.
Several hours later, the center's polio immunization coordinator Dede Kartini received reports that several mothers had refused to allow their ill children to be vaccinated.
There were reports of similar situations in Menteng and Gondangdia in Central Jakarta, with fewer children coming to the posts on Tuesday.
Numbers attending the post outside the McDonald's restaurant in Jl. Thamrin were drastically lower. "We had 60 children in May and 129 in June, but only 11 as of today," said local health officer Herlina.
The Pondok Pinang health center vaccinated 5,464 children during the first round of the polio vaccination campaign on May 31, but only 4,461 children in the second round in June.
By the late afternoon, the health center reported that the 37 posts under its supervision had vaccinated only 3,553 children.
It seemed that both health workers and mothers decided that they would be extra careful in vaccinating children, following controversy over the deaths of several children after the vaccination campaign in May.
The Ministry of Health found that the children in fact died from other diseases they had contracted before or after the vaccination, such as dengue fever, but many in the community believe that the deaths were related to the quality of the polio vaccines used.
However, according to World Health Organization's (WHO) Indonesia spokesperson, Sari P. Setiogi, oral polio vaccine could not have any side effects as it did not enter directly into the blood stream.
The vaccine was quite safe for children who were suffering from fever or diarrhea.
"It is the safest vaccine compared to DPT or BCG vaccines as it only enters through the mouth," she added.
Jakarta health agency's spokeswoman Zelvyno said that health post officers would carry out door-to-door operations over the next six days to vaccinate children who missed out on Tuesday.
She said that there was still resistance from certain mothers, but only because their children were sick on vaccination day.
According to the agency, 896,898 children under five were vaccinated during the first round of door-to-door 'mopping-up' vaccinations on May 31, but only 690,910, or 74.75 percent, came back for the second round held on June 28.
"Most of the posts that we visited today had vaccinated more than 70 percent of the children in their area," she added, naming Gunung Sahari in West Jakarta, Pela Mampang in South Jakarta and Cipinang Muara in East Jakarta as areas that the agency surveyed on Tuesday afternoon.
The second round will be held on Sept. 27. (003)