Barahatu Kabiru, Nigeria "His father did not allow the immunisation"

Barahatu Kabiru feels sad when she looks at her son, Mustapha, who can’t keen up with other children since he was stricken with polio after his father refused to let him take a free vaccination.

Villagers of Kwachiri, some 30 km outside of Nigeria’s northern city of Kano, strongly resisted polio vaccinations on the advice of their Muslim religious leaders who claimed the drugs were laced with infertility drugs.

As a direct result, health workers at the World Health Organisation (WHO) say that there has been a marked increase in the number of polio cases in the region. Polio is a crippling and sometimes fatal disease that cannot be treated but can easily be prevented with two drops of oral vaccine.

“I first noticed that Mustapha was ill when he started having a very high fever, then convulsions and then I noticed that he wasn’t using his limbs.

When the fever started I took him to the Mustapha Mohammed [general] hospital in Kano and he was treated for the fever.

Then, someone came from the local government with two little bottles and I was asked to give two stool samples [for a polio test]. The test came back positive.

Since I delivered Mustapha … if an immunisation programme was going on I wanted to take my children.

But with Mustapha, he only received the [polio] immunisation after he was already affected.

His father did not allow the immunisation. He said he didn’t believe in immunisation, but he has changed his mind since he saw how Mustapha was affected.

I have three children. I think I am 25 and I have been married since I was 14. I was married for four years before I had my first child - which is a long time. My oldest child is seven, then there is Mustapha and the youngest is not yet one.

Mustapha is the only boy.

I never went to government school, but I went to Islamic school [to learn the Koran]. I was born and raised in this village, as was my husband, who is a trader, and often away from home.

When I see Mustapha walk and see other children walking normally I feel sad about what happened to my child.”

[NIGERIA: Restoring faith in the polio vaccine]

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