Children in school uniforms and toddlers with their parents lined up Monday for polio vaccinations in the Sigli town square on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra after four children were found infected with the highly contagious disease that was declared eradicated in the country less than a decade ago.
The virus was first detected in October in a 7-year-old boy suffering from partial paralysis in the province of Aceh near Sigli. Since then, three other cases have been seen, prompting the mass immunization and information drive.
Officials say that polio immunization rates in the conservative province are well behind the rest of the country, with efforts hampered by widespread disinformation the vaccine is incompatible with religious beliefs, among other things. The government has also been prioritizing COVID-19 vaccinations since they became available.
The campaign that started Monday aims to vaccinate some 1.2 million children in the province said Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, the Health Ministryâs director general for disease control and prevention.
âThere is no cure for polio, the only treatment is prevention, and the tool for prevention is vaccination,â Rondonuwu said, adding that the child is still able to walk, albeit with a limp
False rumours that the polio vaccine contains pork or alcohol, prohibited according to Muslim beliefs, have proliferated, especially in rural areas, complicating vaccination efforts, said the head of the Aceh Health Office, Hanif, who only goes by one name like many Indonesians.
âWe cannot work alone; we need support from all parties, including religious leaders, to that people understand the importance of immunization,â said Hanif.
Azhar, the father of the 7-year-old who contracted polio, said he had opted not to immunize his son after other villagers where he lived told him the vaccines may cause harmful chemicals or non-halal substances
âMy neighbours said my son doesnât need to be immunized, and I didnât want my son to get sick because of harmful chemicals against Islam,â the 45-year-old said.
Dewi Safitri, a mother of three who was getting them vaccinated on Monday, did not know it was necessary.
She said she was convinced after health workers spelt out the risks of paralysis or death if her children were to go unvaccinated.
âI didnât even know about immunization,â she said.
The World Health Assembly adopted a resolution for the global eradication of polio in 1988. Since then, wild poliovirus cases have decreased by more than 99%, according to the World Health Organization.
It was eradicated in Indonesia in 2014 and is today only still endemic in two countries â Afghanistan and Pakistan
Officials began checking for signs of the virus there after the first case of polio in the United States was identified in July in Rockland County, which is north of the city. It was confirmed in a young adult who was unvaccinated.
The statewide polio vaccination rate is 79% but Rocklandâs rate was lower, and New York health officials urged all unvaccinated residents, including children by 2 months of age, to get vaccinated immediately.
Last week, new poliovirus cases were found in Afghanistan, Algeria, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Nigeria, according to the WHOâs Global Polio Eradication Initiative
