Vaccines: real-world heroes

I have often marvelled at the heroes and villains of classic Indian cinema. The hero — ever bold, proud, and determined to set the world right. And the villain — calculating, evil, and powerful, but, ultimately, possessing a fatal weakness. I myself have faced many such villains throughout my movie career.

But, as a parent, I know that villains take many different forms off the big screen. A child’s rash. Feverish eyes. Persistent coughing. To me, these symptoms, caused by sometimes deadly infectious diseases, are the most terrifying of villains. They will lead any parent to the end of the world to find a medicine, a cure, or a prayer for their child.

Fortunately, a modern medical hero exists that can protect our children against many of these diseases. This hero is vaccination, a powerful tool to use our own immune systems to prevent infection. As our parents and grandparents will know, India was once a place where deadly diseases, like smallpox and polio, were common. But today, thanks to our heroes of modern science — life-saving vaccines — we have endeavoured to erase these diseases from our communities and our memories.

Yet, despite much progress, many people in our country — from remote rural areas to urban slums — still do not have access to vaccines. Because of this, diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea, and measles, continue to kill hundreds of thousands of children each year in India. In fact, an Indian child dies every two minutes due to pneumonia or diarrhoea, the leading infectious killers of children under five!

Through my work with UNICEF, I have seen the devastating effects of pneumonia and diarrhoea and learned of the nearly 1.5 million deaths they cause across India and the world. It shocked me to learn that even if children survive from these diseases, they can be left malnourished and underdeveloped, with restricted growth and learning over their most critical early years. Poor health affects a child’s overall development, and this can impact education and even future employment.

When children are sick, parents also have to take time off to care for them. Also, when children suffer major illnesses, their hospital and medical expenses can push poor families into poverty. As a mother whose children have had access to vaccines, I cannot imagine how the mothers of children who are not able to receive this crucial protection must feel.

Today, our government is working tirelessly to ensure that every child receives the vaccines they need to survive and thrive. India’s Universal Immunization Programme now provides vaccines against 12 life-threatening diseases.

In a short span of two years, we have witnessed the introduction of vaccines against polio, measles and rubella, and some of the leading causes of severe diarrhoea and pneumonia. And the best part is that these vaccines are provided free to all Indian children under the government’s programme. 

All we need to do as parents, is to ensure our children avail the benefit of this intervention.

However, one important hurdle we face is lack of awareness within our communities. Many mothers do not know about the government’s immunisation services and child health initiatives. Their children often miss out on life-saving vaccines. In addition, myths and misconceptions about vaccines can creep in because of lack of information, reducing their overall demand.

I have seen that some parents are still hesitant to immunise their children. They either do not know the vaccines exist, or do not realise that vaccines are safe and provided to the public only after an extensive process of checks and reviews. It is critical for each one of us to educate parents about the importance of immunisation, so that no child is left behind. It is only then that our nation can progress in its path to development.

Unique initiatives are being carried out to raise awareness on the pressing issue of child health. I’m happy to be part of the upcoming Batting4Life event, which brings together parliamentarians and journalists at a cricket match to talk about the health and well-being of our children. If politicians can get together across party lines, and journalists can forget their newsroom rivalries, even if it is only for a day, can the nation not come together for its children?

We must all act to ensure that all stakeholders — from the government to the media, and from celebrities to technical experts — share the responsibility to protect the future of our children.

Let’s remember that, whether in the real and reel world, the work of a hero is never finished. The villain will return if the hero fails to be vigilant. If fewer children are immunised, disease outbreaks will occur. By continuing to immunise fully, parents can trust that the diseases of today will no longer be around to harm their children in the future. Our hero is armed and ready to defeat these villains. 

As parents, let’s stand by this hero by supporting vaccination and winning the battle against deadly diseases.

The author is a Bollywood actor, producer and active in social work