All immunization and supplement programmes in Mewat have been stalled as the rumours of impotency Tablets and infertility injections have created a panic among masses. The rumours started in Fazilpur Zilka, but have now gripped the entire district. Barely any students attended the schools in the district, following which, the district administration has now approached the religious leaders to spread awareness about the health programmes. Meanwhile, the education director has asked Mewat's district education officer to file a report on the matter.
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The residents across Mewat are so in much in the panic that the district administration has put all supplement and immunisation programmes on hold. This not only includes the weekly iron and folic acid supplementary (WIFS) and deworming drives, but also all immunisation programs including Pulse Polio, Small Pox, measles, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DPT) etc. The drives have been put on hold till after Holi i.e. mid-March and will be resumed only after the normalcy is restored in the region.
ANI
This decision will affect around 2 lakh children who are given the supplements and vaccination of immunisation in Mewat, and the 8,000 pregnant women who are getting injections for iron supplements. Notably, Mewat has the highest infant mortality rate in Haryana with 72 deaths per 1,000 children. Also, the average haemoglobin level among children is below 8, while ideally, it should be at least between 11 to 13. The pause in the drive, even for a week can affect the health of both mothers, the unborn child and school going children adversely.
"This is a big decision but we had to take it and we asked the health officials to not give any supplement or preventive immunisation vaccination till further orders. No drive was conducted this Monday, and none will be conducted next week either. It will be resumed only after the public restores its confidence in the health programs," said Mewat's deputy commissioner Maniram Sharma.
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Mewat has 835 government schools which are attended by around 1.75 lakh students. These schools have been wearing a deserted look since the rumours of injections causing impotency in boys and infertility among girls have refused to die in Mewat. The situation is so grim that the barely 30 to 40 per cent of students showed up on first three days of the week- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Official sources reveal that the parents across the district have refused to send their children to schools, fearing a risk to their reproductive health. The parents are even refusing to consider that final examination is on for many classes.
Following this, the state director of education has asked the district education officer to submit a report in the matter.
"Initially, it was only a few town where the rumour had spread and we assumed that it would subside by Monday, but not students showed up and we thought that is because the drive is conducted on Mondays. But attendance continues to remain low even as half the week has gone," said district education officer Dinesh Shastri. "In fact, the education director has even asked us to submit a report in the matter after the TOI's report on Sunday," adds Shastri.
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The district administration has now contacted the local religious leaders in the area to intervene in the matter. Deputy Commissioner conducted a meeting with Qazis, Mualvis and Ulemas in the area on Tuesday. Notably, out of 13 lakhs of the population of Mewat, around 85 per cent residents are Muslims. Therefore, the leaders from the community have been approached for the same. A team of religious leaders, doctors and teachers will visit villages and share facts about the benefits of the health programs and how it is being sabotaged by some people who do not want the overall health of the people to improve.
A dozen schools in Mewat have shut abruptly on Friday following a rumour against the health department's statewide nutrition drive. The drive is conducted every Monday in Mewat schools. It is suspected that the quacks in the district, who feared that they would lose their businesses if the overall health of the children improves, have been spreading these rumours.