Parents who refuse to join polio program face fines

Parents who refuse to join polio program face fines

Remmy Faizal and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As part of its efforts to free the capital of polio, the city
administration said on Tuesday that it would deal firmly with
parents who refused to take their children to polio vaccination
posts on May 31 and June 28.

"We will impose sterner sanctions on those who impede the
implementation of the vaccination program, including residents
who decline to take part in the program," Jakarta Health Agency
spokesperson Zelvyno said.

Zelvyno referred to Law No. 4/1984 and Government Regulation
No. 40/1991 on measures to eradicate communicable diseases, which
stipulates that those found guilty of intentionally obstructing
such eradication programs could face a Rp 1 million fine or one
month in prison.

Even those charged with unintentionally hampering the program
could face six months in prison or a Rp 500,000 fine.

She emphasized that the strict policy was aimed at preventing
a polio outbreak in the capital, which is only about 60
kilometers away from Sukabumi, West Java where the first polio
case was discovered early this month.

According to her, at least 8,028 vaccination posts manned by
around 40,000 health workers would provide free polio vaccines to
all residents across the capital.

A vaccination post will be erected in every three to four
neighborhood units, with four to five health workers stationed at
each post.

The agency will also erect similar posts at bus terminals and
railway stations to prevent the disease from entering the city.

The agency so far has registered around 707,000 babies who
will receive the vaccinations.

"We keep on updating the data to be more accurate," she said.

Meanwhile, Sandjoyo, head of neighborhood unit 007 of
community unit 03 in Menteng, Central Jakarta said he had ordered
voluntary health workers in his neighborhood to announce the
vaccination program to the residents.

Sandjoyo also said that he had told the health workers to
specifically reach out to residents in densely populated areas in
the neighborhood, adding that most slums were vulnerable to polio
infection.

Neighborhood unit heads are responsible for collecting data on
the number of children aged five and below in their respective
areas.

Health workers will carry out door-to-door visits to homes of
children who fail to show up on the vaccination days.

The administration also requires all children who
have received the vaccination recently to be reimmunized to
ensure that the capital is free of polio. The side effects of the
polio vaccination, like diarrhea and fever, are rarely found. An
overdose of vaccination drops given to the children will do no
harm to immunized children.

Pediatricians say that ideally a baby must receive a polio
vaccination three times in the first year and once every year up
to five years to really develop immunity.

The agency reported 23 cases of acute flaccid paralysis as of
Friday, but so far not a single case of polio infection, which is
transmitted through human feces and saliva, was reported in the
city.