BMC drive in Govandi slums to curb measles outbreak

In the WhatsApp group, doctors share information about patients coming to them with fever and rashes. The BMC’s surveillance team, which is also part of the group, then visits the family for further management

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) health team has formed a WhatsApp group of paediatricians, doctors and hospital owners working in and around Govandi to identify suspected measles cases after the outbreak in Mumbai a couple of days ago. This slum pocket is one where the disease has struck hard.

BMC drive in Govandi slums to curb measles outbreak

In the WhatsApp group, doctors share information about patients coming to them with fever and rashes. The BMC’s surveillance team, which is also part of the group, then visits the family for further management. The treatment management includes a dosage of Vitamin A, which is said to reduce mortality from measles by 80 percent.

Dr Amit Mhatre, a paediatrician working in Govandi who had reported close to 25 measles cases to the BMC before the group was formed, said that vaccination of children in the 0-5 age group had taken a huge hit on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. “There’s a lesson in this for us—namely, that for one virus, others should not be neglected. Vaccinations are crucial in the healthcare system,” he said.

Dr Mhatre added that residents of Govandi would not opt for vaccination on their own. “The health machinery has to catch hold of them and administer them the vaccines,” he said.

Rafi Nagar, a slum in Govandi, had six measles cases confirmed by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, and one confirmed death of a one-and-a-half-year-old child in October, which led to BMC health officials intensifying their surveillance by starting a special drive. The drive, which started on November 8, has so far found 46 suspected measles with fever and rashes cases, of which 38 are children. All of them have been given an additional dose of Vitamin A.

Praveen Singh, CEO of Apnalaya, which works with the BMC in 23 health posts in the M East and M West wards, said that his NGO had also faced challenges with regard to vaccination from reluctant Govandi residents. “It is important to understand the reasons for this reluctance, and the context of the living conditions in the area,” he said. “This suspected outbreak calls for deeper engagement with the community on the importance of vaccines. A severe lack of basic services such as clean drinking water, access to toilets and hospitals is a major health challenge in the area.”

Even as the Centre-appointed three-member team for measles outbreak landed in Mumbai to talk to the BMC and state health department, the corporation’s M East Ward health team continued with its efforts to immunise the unvaccinated children in Rafi Nagar. Vinod Rathod, one of the four community mobilisers appointed for the first time by the BMC to help convince reluctant parents to immunise their children, said that during his two-day field visit to these houses, he found that vaccination was not considered a priority.

“I observed that in most cases, the approach was beyond casual,” Rathod told HT. “Being a migrant population, many had spent months in their villages. Although they were aware that the measles vaccination was necessary, they avoided it back home because of a lack of faith in the healthcare system there. Once here, it was not a priority and they got busy trying to earn money,” he said. In two days, Rathod managed to convince 65 of the 96 people who had refused to vaccinate their children. He said 24 of the 65 came to the BMC’s vaccination camp with their children and got them inoculated.

Rathod said he faced seven or eight outright refusals, because the elders in the family intervened even though the parents were convinced. “In-laws stop parents, saying that they had never got inoculated and nothing happened to them. We have tried convincing them in the best possible ways and are now taking the help of religious leaders here,” he said.

The BMC’s M East Ward health team held a meeting with the maulvis of the mosques in the area. “We made the announcements about the vaccination camp and measles outbreak through the mosques,” said a BMC officer. “We also met a few maulvis and informed them of the challenges we are facing due to refusals, and also reiterated the threat that is looming large over the health of the children. They have extended their cooperation to us.”