Karnataka govt faces vaccine resistance

The Karnataka government may need to step up its outreach to vaccinate the entire eligible population in the state as healthcare workers are facing resistance from sections of people in several rural pockets, said public health experts. Hesitancy has been particularly palpable in the tribal belts in many districts including Chamarajanagar and Mysuru, Raichur, Uttara Kannada and Kodagu, where misinformation, lack of trust factor and fewer Covid-19 cases are all contributing to low levels of vaccination. Although the government has said it is employing many strategies to fight misinformation campaigns and create awareness about the importance of vaccination amid the raging pandemic, social media messages and advertisements seem to have not had the desired effect in areas where literacy levels are low. Many of these areas also have low penetration of 4G data as private telecom operators have not invested much here, making communication through social media channels all the more difficult. Public health experts who have worked closely with rural and tribal communities stress on the need for micro and community based plans to address vaccine phobia. “Many of these communities have been historically marginalised and already had scant trust in government healthcare services. For instance, many of us working among the Soliga community were already struggling much before Covid-19 to convince people to avail modern healthcare services,” said Dr Prashanth N Srinivas, faculty member at the Institute of Public Health Bengaluru Field Station, BR Hills in Chamarajanagar.According to him, effective vaccination lies in “building trust” and engaging with communities rather than merely creating awareness. He said the government and organisations working with these people should speak to their local leaders and address misconceptions about vaccination rather than using mass communication channels.Chamarajanagar district administration and zila panchayat recently involved a local tribal development organisation to come up with micro-planning in hamlets for the vaccination drive. Community medicine expert Dr MK Sudarshan said taking gram panchayat members into confidence could help fight the hesitancy in rural areas. “Since panchayat members are local people and are easily accessible, they play a significant role in encouraging more people to shun reluctance,” he said. Religious leaders too could be involved in the vaccination drive, said Sudarshan. “Faith-based interventions will be effective in combating vaccine scepticism, since people trust their religious leaders,” he said.Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar attributed the hesitancy to misinformation spread in the form of fake news. “We are addressing this issue through engaging community leaders, NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and local influencers who can convince the people. We are also involving our anganwadi workers and ASHAs (accredited social health activists) who enjoy a lot of trust and rapport with local people,” he said.

from Economic Times https://bit.ly/35fuMgv
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