Vaccines Spark Controversy In Nigeria

LAGOS, Nov 6 (IPS) - The government of Nigeria has rushed health workers to Daramba, a village on the border with Niger, following an outbreak of whooping cough - one of the six main killer diseases for children.

Health officials blame the outbreak on the attitude of villagers who have shunned routine immunisation. "The people of the area often reject immunisation on the grounds that it is not safe," says one health official, who refused to be named.

The villagers have latched onto a statement by a popular medical doctor in the northern state of Kano who has openly condemned the immunisation programme. Dr Ibrahim Datti Ahmed, a respected figure in northern Nigeria, which is predominantly Muslim, claims the vaccines could cause infertility and AIDS.

About 80 children in Daramba have been infected with whooping cough. The village also has recorded two cases of polio this year.

Ahmed, who is also a member of the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, declared earlier this year that the vaccines being administered to children contained anti-fertility agents. He called for their suspension until they were fully investigated by competent authorities, and found to be safe.

His theory is shared by Abdul Hakeem, chair of the Lagos State chapter of the Movement for Islamic Culture and Awareness. Although Islam is not against immunisation, Hakeem says, there are concerns in the Muslim community that it is being used for an alleged plot by the United States to reduce the population of developing countries.

''We live in a society where anything goes. We read about how HIV/AIDS was transmitted through vaccination. Muslims are concerned about the actions of the United States on Muslim countries across the world. Muslims fear what the United States can do with such vaccines," Hakeem told IPS.

If only we did start the AIDS epidemic. One that would only go after muslims would have been better. The one thing we really do need to do is thin the heard of muslims. I think nuclear, biological or chemical weapons are a better idea.