Changing the “Presspective”

Mike*(not real name) was a regular at my Big Mummy’s place. Mike was handsome even with a part of his face distorted, poor sight and his inability to speak nor hear. One of his legs was shorter and thinner, causing him to lean onto the other while dragging the latter for movement. One time, I asked Big Mummy what happened to Mike? She said he was never vaccinated hence, he contracted Measles at about the age of 6. Recounting how vibrant and beautiful he was as a child; she snivelled when she told me of the day he lost 3 of his main senses to Measles. Insidiously, it had started as a rash, and soon spread to the areas around his eyes forcing him to keep them closed. Every day, he was brought out for “sunning” until the day he didn’t respond to the frequent “sorrys” by the neighbours.

Always, I remember Mike*and how he couldn’t learn a trade or go to school as a child living with a handicap in a developing country. Mike was unable to enjoy many of the pleasures of life because of Measles. Consequently, several adult men today are unable to bear children due to Mumps infection popularly known as “Shegede” in Yoruba language during their childhood. Perhaps, it is the lack of first-hand contact with the victims of these infectious diseases that cause us to become lax in our responsibilities to ourselves.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie famously spoke about the danger of a single story in her very popular Ted talk. Perhaps, the most riveting part of that talk were the adjurations that she made. We must not take actions that can affect not only our kids’ lives, but the lives of other kids. We must weigh deeply the other choices that we have alongside their outcomes. Alternatively, it may be enlightening to travel to Africa to observe some “Almajiris” - crippled by polio, blinded, deafened and retarded by Rubella, then tortured by Meningitis. Afterwards, google the many debilitating side effects of not being vaccinated. Then we will be equipped make an informed decision to vaccinate our child or not.

My friend, O* alluded that hesitation towards vaccination stemmed from the lack of true contact with the rest of the world. We sit in front of our TV, swallowing; hook, line and sinker all that the media spews without an effort to learn by ourselves. Unarguably, there are several known harms of being unvaccinated compared to the ratio ranging from a one in 100 thousand to one in 1 million probability of developing a side effect from being vaccinated. While there is a 1 in 103 probability of death by vehicle accidents, 1 in 370 possibility of assault by firearms and a 1 in 8 probability of dying in our sleep, yet we must sleep everyday. While keeping in mind that the diseases being vaccinated against have worse outcomes, imagine that this is a part of your routine, and it possesses an even lower chance of harming you than your daily activities. Peradventure, If these were repeated by the press, there would be less chances of other infectious disease outbreaks.