Tests prove polio vaccine safe but Kano State rejects findings

President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday released the results of a month-long investigation into polio vaccines used in Nigeria, saying they proved the vaccines were safe despite allegations to the contrary in the north of the country. “This report categorically attests to the safety of the oral polio vaccine and clears it of contamination by HIV, cancerous agents and anti-fertility agents,” Obasanjo told reporters at a news conference in the capital, Abuja. “It is my belief that this report will finally put to rest our fears and increase our commitment to the Nigerian child,” he added. Muslim preachers in northern Nigeria had alleged that the vaccines were laced with cancer-causing substances, HIV and hormones that cause sterility, and that they were part of a Western plot to lower the population of Muslims. This led the government of the northern state of Kano to suspend polio immunisation last year. The Kano government was quick to reject the findings of the study. “In spite of it all our position has not changed,” spokesman Sule Ya’u Sule told IRIN. The Kano government maintains that investigations by its own panel of scientists showed the vaccines contained trace levels of the oestrogen hormone, which they said could depress fertility in women. Obasanjo responded to these allegations in February by despatching a team of health experts and Islamic leaders to conduct independent tests in South Africa, India and Indonesia to determine if the polio vaccine was safe and report to the federal government. Sule Ya’u Sule told IRIN Kano State would continue with its own plans to procure alternative vaccines from trusted sources in Muslim countries in Asia before rejoining an ongoing campaign to immunise 63 million children in West and Central Africa. Obasanjo said on Wednesday that his government remained committed to conducting the next round of polio immunisations on 23-26 March so as to eradicate the polio virus in Nigeria before the global target date of 2005. Obasanjo’s statement was supported by Mohammed Maccido, Sultan (traditional ruler) of Sokoto and leader of Nigerian Muslims, who said he accepted the conclusions of the report. Maccido urged all Muslims to bring out their children under the age of five years for immunisation during next week’s vaccinations. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), northern Nigeria is one of the last remaining sources of the polio virus in the world. Children in at least seven countries have been infected with strains of the virus that have been traced back to Kano. Polio is a crippling disease that in its most severe form can lead to respiratory failure and death.