Vaccination awareness in rural Maharashtra: From art, street plays to priests

Even though Maharashtra has vaccinated more than 36 million people— the highest in the country, the state’s hinterlands are far behind when it comes to immunisation

Even though Maharashtra has vaccinated more than 36 million people— the highest in the country, the state’s hinterlands are far behind when it comes to immunisation. To encourage people to get the jab, local public health authorities are employing creative ideas to spread awareness through wall graffiti and street plays. In fact, some districts are inoculating hakims (physicians who use traditional remedies) and pujaris (priests) in a bid to gain people’s trust about the efficiency of Covid-19 vaccines.

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Viswanath Koli, 62, a local activist, was one of the first beneficiaries from Govindpur, a village in Gadchiroli district, to get fully immunised in June. In April, when he took the first shot, he developed a fever with body pain which is common after any immunisation. Though he recovered within two days, fake news had started spreading among the villagers that he contracted Covid-19 post vaccination.

“During vaccination, the nurse had warned me of such minor side effects. But people started spreading false information about my health. After I recovered, I had to inform the sarpanch (village head) who then made an announcement in the village about providing correct information,” he said. Govindpur has a population of around 1,200 people with a literacy rate of 72.23%, as per 2011 Census. But so far, only 71 villagers have been fully vaccinated.

The situation is similar in most districts, significantly affecting the mass immunisation programme which is already suffering due to shortages of doses. Districts like Hingoli, Palghar, Nandurbar, Parbhani, Jalgaon and Gadchiroli have recorded less than 5% full vaccination among its residents.

An analysis of the data provided by the state health department shows Hingoli, where 84.82% of the population live in rural areas, has recorded only 3.4% full vaccination. Nandurbar which has 83.29% population in villages has been able to fully vaccinate only 4%. Parbhani with 63.2% population in rural areas has fully immunised only 4.9% of its people. Jalgaon and Gadchiroli with 68% and 89% population in rural areas recorded 4.1% and 4.4% full immunisation, respectively. Similarly, Palghar has provided both jabs to only 3.78% of the residents.

“In Maharashtra, almost 55% of the population consist of rural people. To gain success in the ongoing mass immunisation programme, it is imperative to attain at least 70% full vaccination among rural districts. For that, there is a need to start door-to-door awareness programmes,” said Dr Ravikant Singh from Doctors for You, an NGO that works in rural Maharashtra.

Districts use art and ‘village docs’

Saraswati Vijay Gaikwad is one of the many health volunteers from Bori Shikari, a village in Hingoli, who has been given the responsibility to arrange for local artists to paint graffiti on walls with messages on vaccination.

“Most hospitals have already posted paintings which emphasise the importance of vaccination. Now, we have been instructed to paint nearby walls with graffiti to sensitise people about vaccination,” said Gaikwad. She is also assisting ASHA and Anganwadi workers with door-to-door awareness drive.

In addition, public health officers are trying to raise awareness among people through street plays. Some districts like Gadchiroli and Hingoli are also organising puppet shows.

“Villagers often get scared when volunteers go to their houses. Presuming they will be forcefully inoculated, they often run away or do not open the door. So, we have decided to hold street plays in villages which help spread the information to a large audience,” said Dr Dayanand Suryavanshi, Palghar district health officer.

Officers said villagers have the false belief that vaccination will kill them due to the spread of false information on social media platforms. To help villagers overcome their fear, district health officers are requesting local ‘doctors’ like hakims and pujaris to take the vaccine to motivate the people around them.

Gadchiroli district health officer Dr Shashikant Shambarkar said once they vaccinate local hakims and pujaris, villagers follow suit. “The villagers strongly trust pujaris and hakims. So, it is essential that we vaccinate them first. We are reaching out to small hamlets like Dewada and Korkuti,” he said.

“Local politicians who have good popularity need to come forward and need to raise awareness through door to door visits, just like the way they do during elections campaigns,” said Dr Singh.

Medical teams are also being sent to the Maoist hotbed of Abhujamadh along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border.