Opposing Family Joins Polio Eradication Campaign In Moradabad

This article describes the positive impact of social mobilisation activities on polio vaccination in India. It examines the case of a family in the Meena Nagar locality of Moradabad, who were initially fearful of the vaccine and refused to immunise their children during vaccination rounds. Rumours perpetuated by neighbours and other villagers that the vaccine could cause impotence or have other long-term ill effects led to their boycott of the vaccine for almost two years.

Continued efforts by polio volunteers, as well as consultation with family members working in the healthcare system, eventually managed to convince this household that the polio vaccine was safe. In acknowledgement of the misconceptions they had been operating under, they now strive to educate other parents in the hopes of one day achieving polio eradication in India. The couple has pledged that "We will do whatever we can to ensure that every child in our neighbourhood is immunised against polio.”

Representatives of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Social Mobilisation Network (SMNet) state that the family has been very effective in reducing the number of resistant households in the locality during subsequent vaccination rounds.