16 schools may lose licences for saying no to vaccination

MEASLES-RUBELLA CAMPAIGN

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has threatened to cancel the licences of 16 schools — civic and private — for not participating in the measles-rubella (M-R) vaccination drive that it started last year.

This is the first time the civic body has resorted to taking such a step against schools for noncompliance. “The schools — which fall under the corporation’s A, B and E wards — have ten days to send in an explanation to the BMC, failing which their registrations would be cancelled,” said Mahesh Palkar, the civic body’s education officer.

“Among the schools that have completely refused participation, most are Urdu schools and some, elite schools,” said Dr Avinash Ankush, an official from the Bmc’spublichealthdepartment. “These schools are not willing to communicate with us.”

No student in the 16 schools was vaccinated during the campaign (that started on November 27, 2018), said the BMC. “Despite repeated attempts, there has been no cooperation from your side,” the civic body’s notice to the schools read.

Health officials attributed this resistance, seen in minority communities, to circulation of false messages and reports of unverified medical complications and deaths arising from vaccinations. Maulana Syed Moinuddin Ashraf, of the Sunni Jama Masjid and founder of the Maharashtra Muslim Front, conducted six meetings with religious leaders to raise awareness about vaccinations and debunk myths and rumours surrounding M-R immunisation.

“It is proving to be a huge challenge to change people’s perceptions about the campaign. Many parents also believe that the shots are to sterilise their children,” Ashraf said.

When the vaccination drive began, at least 200 schools had declined to get their students immunised against M-R. But with repeated parent-teacher meetings, and support from private paediatricians, elected representatives and community leaders, the number of non-participating schools reduced to 30 by February this year.

The lack of participation from these schools is now proving to be a hurdle for BMC, which aims to vaccinate 27 lakh children aged between nine months and 15 years. The civic body said nearly six lakh children have not been immunised yet.

Measles is a highly infectious viral disease which can cause deaths due to complications such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and infection in the brain. Rubella, also a virus, can infect pregnant women in the first trimester and children with congenital rubella syndrome stand the risk of being born with heart problems, deafness and blindness.