Medical students battling anti vaccine attitudes

This week-end saw medical students of Kerala’s medical colleges on a campaign trail. They were at the epicentre of anti vaccine campaign in the state, in the rural areas of Malappuram District.

They were at Tanalur, a place near Tirur. People here are fairly prosperous and well-educated. But they feel vaccines are bad for their kids. Here the percentage of children fully vaccinated was well under fifty percent. The families here used to close their doors at health workers who come to their homes urging them to vaccinate.

Some believe naturopath quacks when they say taking vaccines and preventing “harmless” diseases is anti nature. Others believe their political leaders who say vaccines are an imperialist conspiracy to produce sterility in the third world population. Many believe their religious scholars who tell them that Allah is giving complete protection from the womb itself and humans trying to usurp him is not only absurd but against “god”. There are also other allegations against vaccines like they are produced from pig meat and they result in paralysis and mental retardation. In several families, women who wanted their kids to be protected by vaccines had to face tough resistance from men.

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Human hypocrisy at its “best”

It really happened more than 20 years ago at my Alma mater, Calicut Medical College.
It was around 5 pm and I was walking through the hospital corridor when I heard a huge commotion. I could see people scurrying all around in panic. I asked a Hospital attender about the reason.
“Sir, a Rabies patient somehow got out of his cell and is roaming around the Hospital. Everybody is afraid he will attack.
“Did he attack or bite anybody?” I asked.
“No Sir, but you know how violent these patients can be”.
Do I really know? No I have not seen any violent Rabies patient. But folklores say these patients behave like dogs and bite everyone in sight.
Then I noticed hospital staff bringing big buckets of water and placing it in front of entrance to each ward. They were using their knowledge of science to prevent entry of the Rabies infected patient into their ward. They knew that Rabies patients do have fear of water [hydrophobia].
I was curious and wanted to see this man who was causing so much commotion. I found him standing just outside the hospital near the front gate.

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Kashmir – a bloody tale of lost vision

The death toll in Kashmir due to the recent flaring up of protests continue to rise. Now it is put at 37, most of them young street protestors, falling to bullets of the security forces.

In the wake of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffer Wani’s killing in an encounter on July 8 in Anantnag, Kashmir has been seething. Paramilitary forces and the Jammu and Kashmir Police have been deploying excessive measures to counter the violent protests.

The death toll on the sixth day has increased to 37 and over 1,500 others have been injured in the clashes. The Valley remains curfew-bound since the protests broke out. This is the worst violence in the state since 2010, when massive demonstrations were held.

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A century of posts

I just now realised that I had passed the landmark of hundred posts in this blog in just under four months. I never imagined I will be posting so regularly. I am usually a little bit lazy in such aspects.

Image credit here

Image credit here

Reaching a century I thought I will take a look back. The statistics counter says till now I had around 32000 views and around 16000 visitors. Around half of the views came from USA, 12% from India and about 9% from UK . The blog had 219 comments too.

The most viewed post was on Charlie Hebdo. The post on Religion and phobias came second and the review of Meera Nanda’s book came third.

References came mostly from my own Facebook and Twitter posts.

I thank all my visitors for finding time to read my posts. I will try my best to post here regularly my views on all subjects that I feel like writing. I invite suggestions and criticisms if any to make this blog better.

Happy reading

Arun

Sacred water of Railway station

Instead of autobiographical writings like this that encourage superstitious beliefs, I wish Indian schools taught this article by Dr Abraham Kovoor.

Abraham Thomas Kovoor, a renowned  rationalist of South Asia, was born and educated in India. After his studies he worked as a teacher in various colleges in Sri Lanka. He was instrumental in forming Rationalist association of Sri Lanka. He campaigned widely in both India and Sri Lanka, exposing as frauds many god men and para normal phenomena.

A.T.Kovoor

A.T.Kovoor

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Teaching superstitions

This Sunday evening I was helping my son with his lessons. In his Malayalam language textbook there was a portion from the autobiography of the former Indian President, Late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Dr Kalam, before assuming the rather ceremonial post of Indian President, was a scientist and a science administrator at Defense Research and Development Organisation and Indian Space Research Organisation. He was closely involved in India’s space programme, development of missile technology and nuclear weapons.

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Kashmir boiling again

Eleven people have died and nearly 200 have been injured in clashes in Kashmir, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani was killed, the police said. Police stations and minority camps have also come under attack, a senior officer said.

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An eye for an eye is never a solution

A gunman who served in the U.S. Army Reserve and said he was “upset at white people” was part of an attack in which five Dallas police officers were killed and another seven were wounded, authorities said on Friday.

The attack ended hours later when police used a robot carrying a bomb to kill the shooter, the Dallas police chief said.

The Thursday night killings, at the end of a protest over this week’s pair of fatal shootings of black men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, fueled a national debate over excessive police force. The overnight attack raised fears that others would seek to retaliate against police.

He said he was upset about the recent police shootings,” Chief Brown said. “The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.”

Authorities said that the gunman fired at least some of the shots in the attack but have not ruled out that other shooters were involved.

A U.S. government source told Reuters the shooter was identified as Micah X. Johnson, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve.

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Gunning down people because of their race

Two more men of colour who did not pose any lethal threat gunned down and killed  in cold blood by Police in USA.

Alton Sterling on Tuesday and Philando Castile on Wednesday were killed by Police for apparently no reasons.

Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was shot and killed by Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police.

Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was shot and killed by Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police.

Philando Castile was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota on July 6, 2106. Courtesy Of Castile Family

Philando Castile was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota on July 6, 2106. Courtesy Of Castile Family

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