As I stepped out of the SUV, I had to cover my eyes from the bright morning Sun although it was the end of November. Despite the sunshine there was a certain chill in the air. I looked around and surveyed my surroundings – I was standing in a semi urban setting. A few other cars were also there, all emblazoned with the WHO logo. Curious people were gathering around, wondering why so many cars have gathered in front the Government health center. I could see some my friends walking around, coffee in hand. There were many others whom I did not know but I guessed we were there for the same purpose. We were in the outskirts of Kolkata, we were there to take part in the WHO Pulse Polio X to P conversion drive as medical experts. As I stood there, talking to some of my friends, we were whisked inside the primary health center to be briefed. Once inside, I counted about 25 of us who had come for this drive. The briefing was short – we were told about the recent Pulse polio OPV vaccine drive and the subsequent follow-up visits to the resistant households. Our job was to convince the parents of the resistant households to let their children have the OPV. We were divided into teams – each team having a vaccinator, a local influencer and a medical doctor and off we went.

I went with my team to their assigned houses. This was my first field assignment outside the hospital. Needless to say, I was quite nervous though there wasn’t any reason to be. I guess it was the jitteriness of doing something for the first time that was gnawing at the back of my mind. The maze of unpaved roads and densely packed ramshackle houses showed there hadn’t been much planning or government involvement in the development of the neighbourhood – people had just settled here they could, living cheek by jowl – an ideal setting for the emergence of an epidemic – be it of polio or any other disease. As we through the neighbourhood, bands of barefooted children followed us, spreading the news through the locality that a doctor was coming with the “polio didis” to give them medicine. Curious faces peered through the windows asking what was going on, suspicious of this sudden government philanthropy. We visited about 30 households in the locality. Some reported that their child were sick that’s why they didn’t have their child vaccinated. Upon examination of the children I found them all to be quite healthy and convinced their parents to let them have the vaccine. But some households were totally resistant. Some wouldn’t even talk to me – shutting their doors and refusing to open even upon repeated requests. In one house, the mother said that their family physician has asked them not to give their child the vaccine. I offered to talk to the physician over phone but she refused to give me his/her name or contact number. Some of the parents didn’t have any reason – they just wouldn’t let their child have the vaccine. Some said that religion forbids such a thing. Of the 30 houses visited, I was able to convert only 7 resistant households to let their children have the vaccine – a dismal outcome.

As we went back to our staging area at the PHC, we compared notes. Many had done better than me around 60 to 75% conversion but many more had fared dismally. However, this gives rise to serious concerns. India has now been declared polio free but if the vaccination drive fails and such pocket of unvaccinated children remain, I don’t think we will remain polio free for long. A lot have been done to educate the lay people regarding the danger of polio and the safety and effectiveness of the OPV but in recent years the intensity of the advertising and the campaigning about the Pulse polio drive has somewhat slackened. I feel there is a need to intensify the education regarding the polio and its vaccine in the mass media specially the television to ensure proper uptake of the OPV.