Mumbai: After several months of delay, Mumbai is finally set to begin vaccinating the high-risk adult population with the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis (TB). There is much to catch up on, as the state health department already vaccinated over 10 lakh individuals since September.
The high-risk group includes TB patients from the last five years, household contacts of TB patients within three years, self-declared diabetes patients, self-declared smokers, malnourished individuals, and patients with comorbidities over 60 years of age.
Twelve wards, including A, D, P South, H East, M West, and R Central, were selected in Mumbai for the small-scale rollout of this vaccine. However, not all of these wards will be participating in the vaccination drive, as surveys of the eligible high-risk population remain incomplete due to unpaid Maratha reservation dues for Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) tasked with conducting the surveys.
Till the time of going to press, TOI could confirm D ward and M West ward as two locations where vaccination camps would be held. “Some CHVs received the pending dues in their bank accounts, and surveys in those wards were completed. However, in some wards, like mine, CHVs are still waiting for their remunerations,” said Sumedha Mane, a CHV in P-South ward, one of the areas where the TB vaccination survey was supposed to take place.
Sunita Sutar, a CHV from H-West, said, “There has been a lot of controversy around adult BCG surveys in Mumbai, and the unions also approached the labour court for resolution.”
Executive health officer Dr Daksha Shah and city TB officer Dr Varsha Puri were unavailable for comment.
