MALAPPURAM: Amidst efforts by the government to allay fears over measles-rubella vaccination, another female health worker was attacked by a group of irate residents on Thursday at Edayur near Valanchery, causing concern among the staff involved in the vaccination drive. Syamala Bai, a junior public health nurse at Edayur Primary Health Centre, suffered fracture on her hand and was hospitalised. The attack took place when a group of health workers, led by Edayur medical officer Dr. Ali Mohammed, was vaccinating the students at Athippatta GLP School on Thursday evening.
According to Valanchery police, a group of local residents started protesting against health workers alleging the children were being vaccinated without consent from the parents. Some of the group members physically attacked the health workers and Syamala’s hand got fractured in the melee. The miscreants also damaged Syamala’s mobile phone. Valanchery police registered a case based on the complaint filed by Dr Ali Mohammed.
Meanwhile, in a similar incident, MES Central School at Tirunavaya witnessed ruckus as the protest by a group of parents against vaccination turned violent. The parents abused the health workers during the awareness programme. “Some of them started protesting and one of them pulled my shirt,” said Dr Moideen K, who accompanied the health workers as Indian Medical Association (IMA) representative. Earlier, a school teacher was assaulted by protesters in Ponnani.
Docs to boycott OP duty for 1 hour
T’Puram: The doctors under the Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA) will on Friday boycott OP service for one hour in protest against the attacks on doctors and a nurse of a public health centre in Malappuram.They will boycott the OP service from 9 am to 10 am, KGMOA state president Dr V Madhu and general secretary Dr A K Raoof said.
A doctor was allegedly assaulted in Kozhikode and another at Thalassery, while a nurse involved in MR vaccination campaign was allegedly attacked at a primary health centre in Malappuram.The KGMOA leaders said those who attacked should be booked at the earliest as per the Hospital Protection Act. Moreover, the association also demanded taking strong action against those who campaign against the MR immunisation drive.