Research Documentary Critique
Francis Morales and I had the great pleasure and opportunity to interview Dr. Vijaya Srinivas, a research physician at the Public Health Research Institute of India (PHRII). As seen in the Mini-Documentary, we asked three questions which Dr. Vijaya responded to eloquently and was able to discuss in depth behind the scenes.
The first question addressed the topic of vaccines and how PHRII is involved. Dr. Vijaya explained that there is a program in India that encourages people to get vaccinated, and one of PHRII’s roles involves referring patients to government sites to receive these vaccinations. But she also mentions that ASHA’s play an essential role in this as well. Tying into the lecture critique where it was previously discussed the tiers on the pyramid, for the population of a village, every 1,000 people has an ASHA. These people trust the ASHAs, so they do not put up resistance to vaccines if the ASHA agrees with the vaccinations. Therefore, in a way, the ASHAs encourage their village to get vaccinated, and one of the ways they do so, as Dr. Vijaya stated, they educate the parents on the vaccine and take the children to government sites to get vaccinated. Therefore, through the ASHA workers, PHRII can successfully refer patients in need of certain vaccines.
The second question touched on the topic of medical compliance and if there were any barriers to vaccine acceptance, to which Dr. Vijaya responded that the biggest barrier was financial and the lack of awareness of the benefits of vaccines. Because most vaccines are free and provided by the government, but there are certain vaccines such as the HPV vaccine that costs over 1,000 Indian Rupees, and this is not affordable to some people, so it is out of their reach hence they do not receive the vaccine. She also mentions how there could be religious barriers as well, but there are not as many cases as those who are limited financially. She also mentions that there is a lack of awareness of vaccines and therefore misinformation can be spread around which discourages people from getting vaccinated, which leads to the next question that was discussed in the interview.
The final topic ties back to the first question asking how PHRII encourages people to get vaccinated but also what incentives, if any, are offered. Dr. Vijaya reiterated that PHRII refers patients to government sites for vaccines through the ASHA workers since the people of their village have great trust in them. She also added that the same applies to cervical cancer screenings, with the help of ASHA workers, they help inform women and encourage them to get their screenings done at free and accessible clinics, such as the PHRII cervical cancer screening camp located in Halebeedu—which was discussed more in depth previously in my Field Experience Critique. When asked about incentives, Dr. Vijaya said none are given but emphasized the importance of educating the people of India on vaccines. She stated that the best solution is to educate the younger generations to get vaccinated, and this would be a plausible solution according to the survey they conducted in which they asked parents if they would be open to having their children be educated on topics such as vaccinations and cervical cancer screenings. According to Dr. Vijaya, most parents responded yes to the survey as long as there is no cost, which ties back to the second question discussing financial barriers.
Dr. Vijaya did an excellent job tying all our questions together and even answering more behind the scenes. She expanded on lectures such as the Introduction to India’s Healthcare Systems lecture and the Cervical Cancer lecture and had the patience to answer our questions in depth. This interview expanded our knowledge from a global perspective on the topics of vaccines, medical compliance, and the importance of education when it comes to these issues.