Diseases that once claimed young lives and left children with lifelong complications have become less common, thanks to childhood vaccination. However, health experts believe misinformation, gaps in awareness and the cost of certain vaccines remain barriers to comprehensive protection.
According to Dr Tonny Paul Mampilly, HoD and senior consultant in paediatrics and neonatology at Lisie Hospital, Kochi, vaccination in children is one of the success stories in paediatrics. "It is one of the cornerstones in preventing morbidity and mortality. Some two or three decades ago, every month we used to see meningitis and bad pneumonia cases. Nowadays, we don't see any meningitis or bad pneumonia. Vaccination among children is a success story. A lot of childhood mortality and morbidity was prevented with vaccination," he said.
"The aim of childhood vaccination is to prevent major killer diseases among children. If these diseases occur in children, they can cause major morbidity and mortality. Diseases like TB meningitis can cause developmental delays and permanent morbidities," said Dr Gopika Sekhar R, senior consultant at Ananthapuri Hospitals.
However, hesitancy and lack of awareness stop people from getting children vaccinated. "In Kerala, for example, up north, the vaccination rates may not be as good as what we see in central and south Kerala. There are a lot of misconceptions. Some people have attributed autism to the mumps vaccine. But they are not true. The situation in Kerala has improved tremendously. However, optional vaccines, including chickenpox and hepatitis A, are rarely taken, and it needs a lot of encouragement from the doctors, community and health workers. They are a little costly and most people cannot afford them," Dr Tony highlighted.
To improve vaccination in kids at the national level, the government had launched Mission Indradhanush, aiming to improve the vaccine coverage. "Projects like the Indradhanush mission have been effective in improving the vaccine coverage among kids. Anganwadi, Asha and health workers, and local authorities should communicate more with parents. Through such initiatives, we can easily reach out to the public. Government and doctors need to work hand in hand to ensure maximum vaccination of children and reach pockets where there is vaccine hesitancy," added Dr Gopika.