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Polio vaccine in Kenya is safe, WHO assures

Health & Science

NAIROBI: The World Health Organisation has urged the catholic church in the country  to drop its call on Kenyans to boycott the polio vaccination campaign saying the vaccine is safe.

This comes as the controversy on the polio immunisation heightened ahead of its launch in the country on Saturday with the Catholic Church questioning the safety of the vaccine.

WHO country representative DR Custodia Mandlhate said the vaccines  have been manufactured and procured to the highest standards and safety and there is no reason to doubt their safety.

“The same vaccines that will be used in the immunisation campaign are the same one used routinely by all health facilities including those run by the Catholic Church. There is absolutely no reason to oppose efforts to protect our children from polio,” she said.

The polio immunisation campaign has been scheduled for 1st-5th of August  in 32 counties while another round will be between 29th August to 2nd September in 11 counties.

On its part, the Kenya Medical Association, the professional body for medical doctors  in the country,  has expressed concern that the boycott call may impact negatively on the uptake of the critical vaccines that  many Kenyan children need.

“Polio vaccines have been proved scientifically to protect children from polio. We call on Kenyans to ignore the boycott call and turn out in large numbers to immunise their children from this deadly disease,” said KMA National Chairperson Dr Elly Nyaim.

He added: “Kenya still remains a high-risk area for polio  outbreak and many of children remain vulnerable to it since they are not immunised. We fully support the immunisation campaign.” 

Dr Nyaim expressed regret that the Catholic Church also created controversy recently regarding the anti-tetanus vaccine but tests later revealed that they were safe.

Director of Medical Services Dr Nicholas Muraguri said the campaign will go ahead despite the oppositions of the Catholic church.

“We don't want to be like Nigeria where polio spread rapidly after religious leaders there campaigned against polio vaccination. The safety of the vaccine is beyond doubt,” he said.

He added: "Any attempts aimed at mobilising the public against taking their children for vaccination is a serious violation of the right of children to health and survival."

The Catholic Bishops said that they want the safety of the vaccines to be  confirmed before they can be administered to Kenyans.

"We are not fighting anybody, but we are saying let us determine our destiny. The moment things are formulated from outside and there are problems, it is our people who suffer. That's why we are voicing this issue," said Cardinal John Njue, the bishop of Nairobi.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in hours. It mainly affects children under age 5 whose immunity to diseases is still relatively weak. 

The last polio outbreak in Kenya was in 2013 when 14 cases were reported, including two deaths. The Ministry of Health says that the outbreak was only successfully controlled after several rounds of vaccination campaigns.

The Ministry says that the risk for polio outbreak in Kenya is still high since 300,000 children are not vaccinated when they are born due to various barriers. In addition, the risk of polio transmission from neigbouring Somalia is also high.

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