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HIV infection fears end polio campaign

    JOHANNESBURG
    Efforts to inoculate children against polio in Nigeria's Islamic north have ended with only "mixed results", amid fears that the vaccine causes HIV infection. Several predominantly Muslim states boycotted the campaign, charging that the vaccine was a US plot to spread HIV/AIDS and infertility among Muslims. Mohammed Belhocine, a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Nigeria, told the Associated Press agency that UN officials were "a bit frustrated" by the resistance. WHO said the drive to inoculate some 63 million children in 10 west and central African countries was critical to stopping a polio epidemic that was spreading from Nigeria to other countries in West Africa.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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