Kerala makes vaccination compulsory for school admissions

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPIM)-led Left Front government in Kerala has made vaccination compulsory for school admissions from next academic year onwards. Parents will have to show details of shots given to children at the time of enrolment in schools.

Releasing the new health policy draft here on Tuesday, state health minister KK Shailaja said the government is committed to achieving total immunisation in the state.

The move comes in the wake of stiff opposition from certain communities against the vaccination drive. In Malappuram and Kozhikode districts in north Kerala several diphtheria cases were reported last year forcing authorities to press the panic button.

“On the health front, Kerala is a role model for other states. We will not allow those who are planning to foil this record. The government will take strict action against persons who carry out a misinformation campaign against vaccines,” she said.

Earlier the government had constituted a 17-member experts panel headed by Dr E Ekbal to chalk out a comprehensive health policy. One of the key directives of the panel is to make vaccination compulsory for children. While enrolling children in schools, parents have to produce details of the vaccines administered to their wards. The panel has also proposed special clinics for transgenders.

There has been a steady rise in mistrust against vaccinations in the Muslim-populated areas triggering fears that some of the eradicated diseases like polio may re-appear. In some interior areas people publicly defy government innoculation campaigns by putting up boards outside their house saying they will not entertain vaccine inquires anymore.

Officials in the health department say many families fall prey to the misinformation campaign run by fundamentalist elements who claim that most vaccines were creation of the West and that believers never needed them.