Traditional rulers in northern Nigeria call for halt to polio vaccination

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7435.306-d

BMJ 2004;328:306 (7 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7435.306-d

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Traditional rulers in northern Nigeria call for halt to polio vaccination

Lagos Abiodun Raufu

The controversy over the administration of poliomyelitis vaccines in northern Nigeria has taken a new turn as traditional rulers from the region have asked the Nigerian government to stop administering the vaccine because of fears that it is contaminated.

Speaking under the aegis of Jama�atul Nasril Islam (JNI), the umbrella organisation of Muslims in northern Nigeria, the rulers said their advice is based on the report of a medical team sent to India by the Muslim organisation to test the vaccines. The report is said to confirm the fears of the Muslims of northern Nigeria that the vaccines may be unsafe.

According to Dr Haruna Kaita, the head of the medical team that conducted the test in India, the vaccines contain "undeclared contaminants that can cause malfunctioning of the testes and cause infertility in women." The team also found "some toxic substances."

"Polio controversy started long ago," . . . [Full text of this article]

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