Parliament to discuss polio vaccine controversy

Nigeria's House of Representatives will hold a public hearing next week on allegations that polio vaccines used in a recent nationwide vaccination campaign contained elements that could cause infertility and HIV/AIDS. Aminu Safana, chairman of the Committee on Health and Human Services of the lower house of the federal parliament, said in a statement on Wednesday that the hearing had been set for next Monday. Members of the public were being invited to present memoranda at the hearing, he added. Polio is an incurable disease which can cause paralysis, especially in the legs. The disease is on the verge of being eradicated in most of the world, but it is still common in parts of Nigeria. Polio vaccination has faced widespread resistance in the staunchly Muslim north, where groups of Islamic fundamentalists have alleged that the vaccination programme was part of a plot by western countries to reduce the population of Muslims by spreading infertility and the HIV/AIDS virus. Last month, the federal government ordered laboratory tests on a random sample of polio vaccines used in the country. Government officials said the tests, conducted at the National Hospital in the capital, Abuja, showed no sign of contamination with anti-fertility agents or HIV virus. President Olusegun Obasanjo subsequently proclaimed that "the vaccines are absolutely safe". The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have both warned that resistance to polio immunisation in northern Nigeria is hindering efforts to eradicate the disease. They said it was even causing a resurgence of polio in other countries of West Africa where the virus had been previously eliminated. The statement from the House of Representatives Committee on Health and Human Services did not indicate what would be achieved by the public hearing. But an official of the House said the legislators wanted to conduct their own investigation on “a matter of national interest” and noted that their conclusions could influence public opinion. “The legislators are aware that an opinion in favour of the polio vaccine based on facts will likely boost public confidence in the vaccine,” he said. But he warned: “They will also issue a critical opinion if it is supported by facts.”