KOCHI: When it was announced in the state, the Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination drive had seen protests from various sections of society whose fear had been triggered by a few social media posts that claimed the vaccine will bring diseases, side-effects including autism, and even death.But, what happened in the ensuing days is nothing less than spectacular and a study on how Kerala effectively countered the misinformation campaign using memes, trolls and chain messages on social media platforms. This, coupled with a relentless campaign by the government machinery led by the Health Department and various district administrations, have proved to be successful, at least going by the latest figures.
Till Friday, about 25.70 lakh children in the state were administered MR vaccination in the state, which is 34 per cent of the target of 76 lakh by November 3 - a commendable achievement.
The government has also issued instructions that wrong messages be reported to proper authorities. Cases were registered against some persons identified to be behind the anti-vaccination campaign, bringing momentum to the government drive.
"Since the campaign is part of an international effort to rid the world of Measles and Rubella, we cannot let it all go to waste because of the vested interests of a few. Therefore, we made a collective decision to counter the attack and help the truth to reach out to people," said N K Kuttappan, DMO.
Added another government officer: "We arranged awareness camps in schools involving teachers, parents, and students. The Health Department, pediatricians, and almost the entire health fraternity came forward to be a part of the government's counter-campaign."
One such entity was the Facebook page International Chalu Union (ICU) which is known for posting hilarious memes and has more than 9,07,028 followers. They posted supportive posts and memes for the counter-campaign against rumours. “We feel memes reach out to more people. When we say things in a simple way, more people realise the silly arguments made against the vaccine,” said Dr Ranjith Raj, an administrator of ICU.
Another page, Info Clinic, which is run by doctors, shared Youtube videos supporting the vaccine and credible articles by doctors on the subject.“We have begun the page to counter the anti-scientific arguments made on social media platforms. The anti-MR vaccine drive can be called a hoax, an organised one at that and we have actively spread the right information to help people understand the truth and not fall for misinformation,” said Dr Jithesh, the administrator of the Info Clinic page.
The Health Department relied heavily on social media support and used resources like pages, groups and Youtube channels to spread positive information. They also released a video featuring Rima Kallingal in which she supports the vaccination and encourages it. Whatsapp was one of the sources of spreading misinformation against the vaccination. The prospect of anonymity made it the preferred platform to spread false information which cannot be easily traced back to the perpetrators.