Church bid to scuttle vaccination is dangerous

The Catholic Church is a major player in Kenya’s health system, with an extensive network of health facilities that include 58 hospitals, 83 health centres, 311 dispensaries and 17 medical training institutions. For this reason it cannot be ignored in matters health.

Last year, the Church caused a storm when it opposed a tetanus vaccine campaign backed by the government, the World Health Organisation, and UNICEF claiming the vaccine could cause sterility in women.

Last week, the Church urged Kenyans to ignore the polio jab drive. Polio is a serious disease that can lead to paralysis or death. Its presence has been reported by WHO in the Horn of Africa, with the latest cases recorded in Somalia, so why would the Church oppose a vaccination drive?

Church leaders say their own tests in April found contamination in the polio vaccine the government intends to give children. But Dr Stephen Karanja, the head of the Catholic Doctors Association admitted the Church has not shared the results of its tests with the government. Karanja claims the polio vaccine is laced with a hormone that if injected into children will affect their growth and reproduction abilities.

The Church also claims the polio vaccine provided by the World Health Organisation and Unicef has been found to be contaminated in other countries such as Nigeria. This is misleading.

In 2003, the political and religious leaders of Kano, Zamfara, and Kaduna states in Nothern Nigeria brought an immunisation campaign to a halt by calling on parents not to allow their children to be immunised. These leaders argued that the vaccine could be contaminated with anti-fertility agents, HIV and cancerous agents. Vaccinations were suspended for nearly a year while tests were done to convince local officials that the vaccine was not contaminated. Anti-fertility agents were never detected.

The boycott caused cases of polio to rise not only in Nigeria but also neighbouring countries. The public also became wary of other vaccinations, and Nigeria reported over 20,000 measles cases and nearly 600 deaths from measles from January through March 2005. In 2006 Nigeria accounted for over half of all new polio cases worldwide. Outbreaks continued thereafter; for example, at least 200 children died in a late-2007 measles outbreak in Borno State. In 2013, nine health workers administering polio vaccine were targeted and killed by gunmen on motorcycles in Kano.

It is therefore disingenuous for the Church to undermine public confidence in vaccination drives. Public trust is essential in promoting public health. Such trust plays an important role in the public’s compliance with public health interventions, especially compliance with vaccination programmes. Where public trust is eroded, rumours can spread and this can lead to rejection of health interventions. This is exactly what happened in Nigeria.

During the recent beatification of Sister Irene Stefani ‘Nyaatha’, the government provided an enabling environment for the event. It would have been astounding and way out of line had the state instead sought to force its input as to whether the blessed Sister was worthy of sainthood. That is for the church and the church only to say. While Holy Mass and other church activities have a bearing on the public, the government will not demand to be consulted before any of those activities are carried out. The Church should apply reciprocity and refrain from undue and damaging interference to allow the government fulfill its mandate in public health matters.

The National Quality Control Laboratory at the University of Nairobi has said the Polio vaccine is safe. As for the persistent fears of surreptitious contraception, the evidence has always indicated they are unfounded.

It is also noteworthy that studies have shown a vast majority of catholic women use a contraceptive method other than natural family planning. These women are not victims of some hormone laced vaccine but have knowingly chosen to use contraceptives.