Nigerian State Rejects Polio Vaccine

Sharp-kun · Post by **Sharp-kun** » 2004-03-22 02:41pm

The BBC wrote:A national polio immunisation campaign is due to resume in Nigeria, but one northern state is refusing to join in.

Kano opted out of a drive last year, when some Islamic leaders said it was part of a western plot to render Muslim women infertile.

Last week the government announced that the oral vaccine, promoted by the United Nations, was safe to use.

The programme targets about 60 million children and centres on Nigeria - where half of all new polio cases originate.

The northern state of Zamfara, which boycotted the campaign last year, is joining in this time.

President Olusegun Obasanjo chose the capital of Zamfara, Gusau, to launch the latest round of vaccinations.

"Since the controversy over the polio vaccine started, thousands of children in this state have been denied the opportunity to be immunised against the devastating disease and that has not augured well," the president said during a televised ceremony.

Warnings

Health experts have warned that the delay in vaccination in Kano has already resulted in new polio cases.

The World Health Organization has denied the claims by Muslim clerics that the vaccine was contaminated with an anti-fertility agent.

And its goal of eradicating polio from the world by next year is now looking increasingly distant.

Polio has spread out from northern Nigeria to infect people in at least seven west and central African states.

Kano announced earlier this month that it would seek polio vaccines from Asian countries.

But state spokesman Sule Ya'u Sule told AP news agency on Sunday that Kano would not be joining in.

"We will only join when we receive uncontaminated vaccines or when our own vaccines arrive," he said.

Idiots. That's the nicest word I can think of for them. Maybe we should make the vaccine render some them infertile though, might help some of the problems in Africa.

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2004-03-22 02:49pm

I think its been posted before

Sharp-kun · Post by **Sharp-kun** » 2004-03-22 02:56pm

Montcalm wrote:I think its been posted before

Did a search for polio and didn't find any threads on it.

Mayabird · Post by **Mayabird** » 2004-03-22 03:06pm

There was another article about it before (and I should know because I posted it), but this one shouldn't be locked because this is the SECOND time Kano (the Islamic Sharia Nigerian state that has been doing this crap) has blocked a polio immunization drive.

That being said, those Kano fucktards have caused the spread of polio from their little shithole to the surrounding African countries where polio had previously been eradicated. Too bad the leaders probably got the vaccine and so they won't be getting sick. It'll just be their illiterate brainwashed masses, but since they're being prevented from being infertile, their rulers will always have plenty of subjects to control.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2004-03-22 03:14pm

this is in the same level of idiocy as zimbabwe banning free condoms in schools.

Mayabird · Post by **Mayabird** » 2004-03-22 03:15pm

Crap, no edit button. I posted ON that thread. I didn't actually put the article up here.

Sorry, but I hate letting typos slip through.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2004-03-22 04:24pm

This is sad... I remember when I was in Kano, it's bloody hot and overcrowded for the most part. Filthy, too... no wonder polio's a problem there. Idiots've probably been listening to too much anti-American/Western radio broadcasts... the Hausa-language VOA broadcasts are insane.

But it's just what can be expected... there's not much one can really do other than take matters into one's own hands. my dad was a public health practioner (he's a RN-- ran an clinic in our backyard, will continue when my family returns to Nigeria in August), and he did plenty of immunization. To be sure, this wasn't Kano state-- it was Gombe State-- but I don't figure it'd be too hard to do this.

Also, I'm pretty sure that most of this opposition is from the wealthy, high-profile people-- which are a miniscule minority, but they control access to the press, which makes all the difference. The commoners likely don't care one way or another-- they're the ones who've seen polio cases at first hand, and would be wanting the vaccine. I remember helping to administer vaccinations in Ogbomosho (in south Nigeria), to the indigenous Fulani people-- the kids weren't too happy about the needles (we were doing more than one kind of vaccination-- I think the needles one was MMR), but they took the oral vaccine easily enough.

So I'm pretty sure this is mostly the high-profile clerics and wealthy-- the commoners probably would be happy enough to have the vaccine.

The Albino Raven · Post by **The Albino Raven** » 2004-03-22 07:17pm

this is a pity. Pity that is, that we can't be benevolent and help people,

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2004-03-22 10:15pm

Fuckwads. How would the Asian vaccines be any different?

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2004-03-23 01:30am

Darth Yoshi wrote:Fuckwads. How would the Asian vaccines be any different?

They obviously don't contain the evil western imperialists devil-medicine that is causing all problems the world currently has, duh!

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2004-03-23 04:21pm

Nathan F wrote:They obviously don't contain the evil western imperialists devil-medicine that is causing all problems the world currently has, duh!

That's actually more true than you might think... despite having a modicum of fairly up-to-date health care, much of Nigeria is still very supersitious and would rather use traditional remedies, much of which is magical in nature. for example, there is "hiyaki"-- a medicine man makes charms, which you burn in a small pot and inhale the smoke... it's supposedly a cure-all, from the common cold to (sadly) HIV. They do use modern remedies, of course, but it's not uncommon to see children wearing protective charms around their necks, wrists, or ankles. Even adults wear charms.

So I'm not surprised-- this is probably at least part, if a small part, of what is essentially a protest against the Western world and what is seen as Nigeria's growing dependency upon said West.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-03-24 06:35am

Elheru Aran wrote:
Nathan F wrote:They obviously don't contain the evil western imperialists devil-medicine that is causing all problems the world currently has, duh!
That's actually more true than you might think... despite having a modicum of fairly up-to-date health care, much of Nigeria is still very supersitious and would rather use traditional remedies, much of which is magical in nature. for example, there is "hiyaki"-- a medicine man makes charms, which you burn in a small pot and inhale the smoke... it's supposedly a cure-all, from the common cold to (sadly) HIV. They do use modern remedies, of course, but it's not uncommon to see children wearing protective charms around their necks, wrists, or ankles. Even adults wear charms.

So I'm not surprised-- this is probably at least part, if a small part, of what is essentially a protest against the Western world and what is seen as Nigeria's growing dependency upon said West.

Stupid fucking shits! Once Polio is whiped out permanently they would be free from depending on any vaccine or medication against it. Not that the people agitating against it truly belive in any of that crap, to them it is just a convenient weapon to use. So what if a few thousand peasants suffer, that will only make them hate the west even more.