With the social media full of anti-vaccination campaigns, the State branch of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), which has been thumping a campaign to counter it, has come up with a short film.
The film, Thiricharivu (Realisation) – with the You Tube linkhttp://youtu.be/ 10pyMi4b0po– shows a middle-class family where the father is against vaccination and does not want his child to be vaccinated.
He reasons that he himself was never vaccinated but is leading a healthy life.
The film starts with the protagonist’s daughter asking him whether she could go for it as it is Vaccination Day in the school.
His retort against it keeps the mother and daughter mum.
In the course of the day, when he learns that his friend’s daughter died of diphtheria, a disease preventable by vaccination, he hurries to the school.
When he reaches school, he finds his daughter sitting alone in the class while others had gone for vaccination. He quickly takes her to the doctor in the school and shows a mind to learn anew and unlearn some unscientific information against vaccination.
To be screened in schools
The film would be screened in schools as part of IAP’s DIET (Diet, Interaction and Immunisation, Exercise and TV and social networking) programme during this academic year.
The State had earned a model in public health because of the best practices in primary heath, especially through immunisation drive. But the anti-vaccination campaign spreading untruths through social media had given a break in the immunisation cover which had resulted in some of the diseases coming back, said Dr. Jiss Thomas Palukunnel, secretary, IAP Kottayam branch, who made the film with his associates.
It was in 2008 that the State first reported cases of diphtheria and tetanus after about 30 years, he said. And most cases up to 2015 were reported from Malappuram, he said.
He said the IAP would approach the district administrations for support. The Kozhikode District Collector had posted a comment about the film on the social media, he added.
