The majority of parents or caregivers of children have concerns regarding the side effects of the polio vaccine. These concerns should be addressed with practical reasoning and by involving people’s own trusted family doctors or local doctors they have endorsed for years.
The nature of the OPV should be discussed and the possibility of side effects in accordance with the cold chain maintenance affecting the viability of the vaccine especially during harsh weather should be emphasised. General awareness should be created about the vaccine vial monitor (VVM) attached to the vial. By conducting a mass campaign about the basic workings of the drug, proper reasoning based on facts with parents can make more difference to the anti-polio drive outcome than pushing it through forcefully and raising suspicions among emotionally tormented caregivers.
Dr Farwah N Fatima
Lahore