Sterner sanctions sought in polio vaccinations
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.