“You want to see your little ones running around, don’t you?”
One grandfather’s quest to ensure others learn from his mistake
Ananda Bandyopadhyay/Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
“It’s a universal truth that parents want what’s best for their children. Unfortunately, when a parent questions the value of vaccines, he puts his entire community at risk,” writes Dr Ananda Bandyopadhyay in a post for Impatient Optimists, the blog of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr Bandyopadhyay, who worked for the World Health Organization in India during that country’s epic battle to end the disease, shares the story of one grandparent’s transformation from vaccination sceptic to advocate.
Wanting only what’s best for his family, this man had refused to let anyone in his household be vaccinated – mistaking believing that vaccines had harmful effects. Sadly, it was only once his grandchild was partially paralysed by polio that he realised his mistake. Determined not to let others follow in his footsteps, the grandfather decided to share his story with other carers in his community:
“Don’t allow polio to paralyze your child. It’s too late for my family. But you want to see your little ones running around, don’t you?”
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