The Catholic Church last week urged Kenyans to ignore the polio jab drive which started on Saturday.
Nairobi Catholic Archbishop John Njue advised Kenyans to keep off the jab until the safety of the vaccine is established through testing and documentation by manufacturers.
Njue said Kenyans must be the ones determining their own destiny as not everything coming from outside the country is safe.
Echoing his comments, Kenya Catholic Doctors Association chair Stephen Karanja said it will be irresponsible for anybody to allow children to get vaccines that have not been tested.
“This is not a quarrel as we are partners with the ministry and when the church has spoken, do not under-estimate its voice, they should listen to the shepherds,” Karanja said at their offices in Westlands, Nairobi.
But why is the church opposed to the vaccine?
Karanja said the polio vaccine brought by the World Health Organisation and Unicef has been found to be contaminated in other countries such as Nigeria.
The Catholic Church early this year issued a strong statement reiterating their opposition to a WHO and Unicef-sponsored mass vaccination effort aimed at reducing maternal and neonatal tetanus.
Health CS James Macharia on Wednesday dismissed the church. Macharia said though his ministry respects stakeholders, church included, the church should “leave polio vaccination to medical experts who know what needs to be done”.
“Polio is a global campaign and Kenya is not in isolation as it is one among the few countries with polio because of importation of polio from West Africa, horn of Africa through the refugee camps. Let us look at the bigger picture and say why are we doing this campaigns,” he said.
Macharia faulted church’s stance saying Kenya has different religions which if allowed to make decisions in the heath sector, total confusion will be the order of the day. In rejecting the polio vaccine, the Catholic church said its safety is in doubt.
However, Macharia noted that Kenya does not manufacture the vaccine as they are certified by WHO and distributed through Unicef.
Anti-polio campaign ambassador Harold Kipchumba joined the debate on Thursday.
He dismissed the Catholic church over their ‘misguided’ stand on the matter.
Kipchumba, who got paralysed when he was four, has appealed to parents to ensure their children get the jab which was rolled out on Saturday and ends tomorrow.
“It is sad that a church that has over the years played a key role in the health sector, and specifically for my case being a beneficiary of rehabilitation programmes by the same church, can be involved in such a disruptive scheme. Why and why now? Is there a populist agenda to be achieved?” he posed.
Kipchumba cited Nigeria as a country where a faith-based organisation halted vaccinations, which has made the country one of the few still grappling with polio.
“The same script is being played by the Kenyan church which will have a devastating impact that might cause thousands of innocent children to die or suffer a lifetime disabling disease. Given such room of complacency, the polio virus would spread very fast,” he said.
Kipchumba said it is important to note that polio cannot be controlled but can only be eradicated. “I have been involved in reaching out to various religious sects that have been resistant to modern health interventions and have had a lot of positive response towards acceptance,” he said.
“Our resolve to eradicate polio should not be slowed or be stopped by anybody. There is serious need to take the campaign to the communities and let the people choose whether they want it controlled or stopped.” WHO representative to Kenya Custodia Mandlhate said immunisation has been globally proven to be the most cost effective intervention for prevention of many diseases.
“As responsible public health leaders we want to respect the global, regional and country commitments. We cannot fail our generation and the generations to come,” she said.
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What is polio?
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, or even death.
The term poliomyelitis is from the Greek poliós meaning “grey”, myelós referencing the spinal cord, and -itis meaning inflammation.
Polio is caused by the poliovirus, a highly contagious virus specific to humans.
The virus usually enters the environment in the faeces of someone who is infected. In areas with poor sanitation, the virus easily spreads through the faecal-oral route, via contaminated water or food. In addition, direct contact with a person infected with the virus can cause polio.
It can be classified as either symptomatic or asymptomatic. About 95 per cent of all cases display no symptoms (asymptomatic polio), and between four per cent and eight per cent of cases display symptoms (symptomatic polio). Symptomatic polio can be broken down further into a mild form called nonparalytic or abortive polio and a severe form called paralytic polio (occurring in 0.1 per cent to two per cent of cases).
Spinal polio attack motor neurons in the spinal cord and causes paralysis in arms and legs and breathing problems while Bulbar polio affects neurons responsible for sight, vision, taste, swallowing, and breathing.