Dr. Mina was a guest lecturer to our class soon after India announced the eradication of polio! Many interesting questions came up in discussion that class period. The question that interested me the most was, ” What impacts will this data have on the anti-vaccination campaign?” . I think we can all agree that individuals against vaccination will definitely use Dr. Mina’s research to support their claims.

I think an important part of acquiring data like this is to make sure that the public is properly educated. I think that the greenmed article we read for class improperly relayed the data to the public. The data was used out of context in order to strengthen a personal argument. This is one reason why I do not agree with the CDC’s decision to no longer support Dr. Mina’s research. The CDC, as a highly respected health organization, has a duty to properly educate the public about new information regarding vaccines. After that, it is the personal opinion of the individual to take a stance in regard to vaccines.

In this blog post I just wanted to provide some information on how polio eradication was achieved in India. Vaccinations were a huge part in this achievement:

Polio is a highly contagious virus that affects the nervous system (WHO). The virus is spread through contaminated water which is pretty abundant in impoverished areas of India. Polio has been a challenge to eradicate in India because of many reasons such as a high population density, poor sanitation, and low rates of routine immunizations (Gates Foundation).  India has been well on its way to the eradication of polio for some time now. A small child, Rukhsar Khatoon, was India’s last reported polio case in January of 2011 (CNN Health). The surveillance of polio proved to be a very important step in India’s eradication process (WHO). The surveillance strategy helped to pin point which populations had a greater risk of polio (WHO). The National Polio Surveillance Project was started in 1997 (WHO). They started by supporting early detection as well as testing stool samples of children who had recently become paralyzed (WHO). Later, environmental surveillance proved to be one of the missing links in the surveillance system (WHO).

Immunization efforts were also a big part of India’s success story! Innovative ideas on how to keep the polio vaccine refrigerated were a major part in the success of immunization (CNN health). There are many parts of India without electricity which presented a major issue in attempting to vaccinate rural villages (CNN health). The solution to this problem was refrigerators powered by kerosene (CNN health). Another major issue with vaccination in India was the lack of trust people had in the polio vaccine. Many people believed that the polio vaccine was a government conspiracy that presented adverse side effects, this lead people to refuse polio vaccination (CNN health). Infertility and even death were some of the rumored side effects of the vaccine. Prominent religious figures and government officials played a major role in gaining the trust of the public to try the vaccine (CNN health). This is a great example of how respected individuals/organizations have a huge influence of the opinions of people.The eradication of polio in India required stead fast dedication from all parties involved.

Citations:

http://www.searo.who.int/entity/immunization/topics/polio/eradication/sea-polio-free/en/

http://www.searo.who.int/india/topics/poliomyelitis/surveillance/en/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/22/health/india-end-of-polio/index.html?iref=allsearch

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Polio