They Now Know Better

By

Chuks Ehirim

Sunday, April 04, 2004

Resistance to the polio vaccine in some Northern parts of the North collapses in Yobe State as Emirs endorse its use on children

The Federal Government's programme on Polio eradication from Nigeria, received a major boost in Yobe State two weeks ago. That was during the second round of this year's national immunisation exercise which lasted for five days, nationwide. This was because indigenes of that state embraced the programme.

Yobe had been one of the traditional states in the Northern part of Nigeria where the controversy surrounding the oral polio vaccine, OPV, has been most pronounced. The controversy arose from negative campaigns against the vaccines, especially by some powerful traditional, religious and political leaders.

The allegations had been rife that the vaccine contains some infertility substance which would in future hinder the reproductive ability of today's infants who are being vaccinated with it. It was also alleged that the OPV, which is supplied to Nigeria directly by the United Nations International Children's Fund, UNICEF, contains the dreaded HIV virus.

Speaking at the occasion, Hawa Aliyu Sale Bagure, wife of the state deputy governor, who stood in for Maryam Bukar Abba Ibrahim, wife of the state governor, made passionate appeal to parents in the state to allow their children to be vaccinated. She explained that immunisation was the best option for polio eradication. "Immunisation, is our most viable weapon against such a killer disease as polio," she said. She told the people of the state government's commitment towards exceeding the percentage coverage of the programme in the past. "Be assured that the state government is doing everything possible to exceed the 86 percent coverage it had in the first round," she said.

Bagure noted that the achievement of the state in this direction was in spite of the negative campaigns from some quarters that the polio vaccine contains some infertility agents and HIV virus. She declared that such controversy was over. "Let me use this opportunity to inform the general public that the polio vaccine controversy is over now. The vaccine is found to be safe for immunisation," she said.

Sani M. Chiromari, a medical doctor and the state commissioner for health, also debunked the allegation that the polio vaccine is harmful. He came down hard on the harbingers of the negative campaigns. "This polio eradication programme is going on all over the world and not only in Nigeria, as is being mischievously peddled in certain quarters of our society. The programme is aimed at preventing the disease and the subsequent disability caused by it," he said.

The world has achieved 97 percent level of polio eradication but Nigeria still ranks very high among the few countries still having wild polio problem and Chiromari is unhappy with this. "The polio eradication programme has achieved 97 percent success globally. There are only few countries around the world that still have this disease and unfortunately, Nigeria ranks among the highest of the World's total current cases of polio," he said.

He said it is for this reason that governments at all levels in the country were working round the clock to ensure the success of the programme. He said also that the polio vaccine controversy has been laid to rest with the response in the state. This, he said, was done through the findings of the committees set up by the federal and state governments to examine the vaccines . "All the committees set up by the federal and state governments as well as independent agencies have ascertained the safety of the polio vaccine," Chiromari said.

Perhaps, the most effective public relations tool deployed by the Yobe State Government to win converts for the immunisation programme, was the involvement of traditional rulers who were made to publicly endorse the OPV, by openly vaccinating children with it during immunisation days. Since the initial opposition to programme originated mainly from that institution, countering it with the same people (emirs) became the magic wand, needed to convince the rural populace that the drug is not after all harmful.

One man who did this effectively was Mohammed Yeri Ibn Isa II, the emir of Ngelzarma emirate council. Accompanied to the occasion by his counterpart, Sale Idris Ibn Usman II, the emir of Fune, a neighbouring local government council, the royal father demonstrated the support of the traditional and religious institutions to the immunisation programmes by vaccinating a number of children publicly.

Testifying to the importance of the involvement of the traditional rulers in the programme, Andre Lokusa, a citizen of Democratic Republic of Congo DRC who is the co-ordinator of World Health Organisation, WHO, in Yobe State, told Newswatch it would go a long way to make those who were rejecting the vaccine to have a change of mind. "Their involvement is very useful because they enjoy tremendous respect from their subjects who are likely going to change their negative perception towards the programme as a result of the involvement of the emirs", said Lokusa.

This assertion was not to be dismissed as more of the people throughout the five days the programme lasted brought out their children to be immunised by the local vaccinators. However, Newswatch noticed in some of the house holds especially within Damaturu Local Government council that the level of rejection was still relatively high.

Those behind these damaging rumours had even gone further to allege that the vaccine is a weapon being used by the United States of America to curtail the demographic growth of te North, especially, the Islamic segment of it. The rumour had spread like the proverbial harmarttan fire, causing high level rejection of the vaccine and the polio eradication programme of the government, in the Northern states.

Not even the Federal Government's efforts in subjecting the disputed vaccine to laboratory tests, both within and outside Nigeria, had helped to stave off the opposition against it. Up till now, the Kano State Government is still opposed to the OPV though it had shifted some grounds in its vehement opposition to it. While Ibrahim Shekarau, the state governor, tells the whole world that he believes in the polio eradication programme, he wants his government to be given a free hand to import its own drugs for this purpose.

At the headquarters of Ngelzarma local government council in Yobe where the flag off campaign was organised, both political, religious and traditional institutions in the state were fully in attendance.

Every speaker at the occasion, used the opportunity to propagate the efficacy of the OPV for polio eradication in the society, as well as castigate those behind the negative campaigns the programme has been harvesting ever since.

This, some of the residents explained, was because the message from their emirs and leaders had not been relayed to them yet.