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HEALTH INTERACTIVE WITH DR AMINU MAGASHI Is the Polio Controversy Over in Nigeria (Part Two)? As
if by joint agreement, the Wednesday, 24th, March, editorial
comments of three national dailies focused on the most publicized polio
controversy in Nigeria. While Vanguard editorial comment ( Now
That The Polio Controversy Is Over
) dwelled on the fact that the benefits of polio vaccination
far out weigh the risks and appealed to the populace that all
hands must be on deck to ensure the success of the polio immunization
drive, if the country is to move forward. The New Nigerian
editorial comment ( Wiping Out Polio ) expressed joy that, it is a good development
that the controversy concerning the efficiency and safety of the oral
polio vaccine ( OPV ) has been laid to rest with
recent presentation of the stakeholders report to the president,
the paper urged all Nigerians to work towards the end of polio since it
can only be prevented not cured. What
was silent in the editorial comments of New Nigeria, and Vanguard was
exposed in the editorial comment of Daily Trust of same day ( Polio
Vaccine : Safe, By What Standard ? ).
The paper believed that the federal government should do more than just
pronounce the vaccine safe and flagged off another round of vaccination
campaign, it should state by what criteria the OPV has been proven safe,
considering that even the all inclusive final verification committee
report confirmed contamination with oestradiol in 6 of the 12 batches
tested. The paper went a head to proffer alternative that the federal
government to suspend the exercises, procure new batches of the OPV and
have them tested again by NAFDAC. Some
of the issues raised by these 3 papers, was equally raised in the part
one of this discourse, while I mentioned that the controversy was over
between the Federal government and Jamaatul Nasril Islam ( JNI ), how
ever, Nigerians and particularly federal government have a
very significant matter to resolve if at all we mean well and
sincere to the cause of
collective survival and development of Nigerian
children. To make an attempt to answer the question raised by
that editorial comment of Daily Trust, i.e. by what criteria the all
inclusion final verification committee declared OPV safe for public
consumption. As it was reported that
out of 12 batches tested by the committee, 6 were found to be
contaminated with oetradiol, also as we know earlier on, the Kano led
investigation team, the first test conducted by JNI and NAFDAC all
reportedly confirmed presence and/or traces of oestradiol. The argument
posed by our senior colleagues in the federal committee and AFVC is the
fact that, the oestradiol discovered is so insignificant in terms of
percentage to cause any harm and induced infertility and it is equally
less than the amount of estrogen been express from breast milk that
children take during lactation. It
is based on this scientific fact that the OPV is declared safe for
consumption, well if it is so, then of course, it is safe but where we
are naïve and myopic on this assertion is the fact that,
then why are the manufactures bend on contaminating the OPV with
small amount of oestradiol, that is said to be
insignificant to cause infertility and the amount is below the
level in breast milk, why for goodness sake, why the waste of time ,
procedural processes and money to put that small amount of oestradiol
for no known reason, are they interlocked together ( polio vaccine and
oestradiol ) with regard to production, is oestradiol a preservative, if
it has no function , then why is it there, from the onset ,
do the manufacturers know something that we don’t know about
what the world children stand to benefit by having a small quantity of
oestradiol in their body through OPV.
When
I mentioned in the concluding paragraph of the part one of this
discourse that for Kano and federal government to resolve this
imbroglio, the FG need to shift a bit to the left, I mean that the
committee of the FG and its medical experts should shift from accepting
OPV with small amount of oestradiol to insisting of purchasing and
accepting only OPV
without oestradiol, no matter how small it is, after all our
government is buying the OPV using
our hard earned dollar, we shall bargained effectively with manufactures
and marketers and distributors of OPV that , what we want is OPV free of
oestradiol unless if they are willing to tell us the benefit of that. On
the part of Kano state government and its citizenry who have vowed to
resist all forms of not –to- open and sincere
dialogue as I mentioned ealier, it is a face off between Kano not
only with the rest of Nigeria but versus the rest of the world.. In a
report recently by IRIN ( Integrated
Regional Information Network )
being coordinated by a United
Nation Information Unit, it mentioned that Kano state as an
alternative has shown some interest to purchase OPV from some Muslim
populated countries in Asia
. Well in my own opinion, both as short and long term, I don’t think that will be a good
policy in the long run for the state and its citizenry. For one, will
the state has the resources and the
capability to sustain such commitment, it may interest the state to know
that even if it is able to achieve that for now, polio eradication is
certainly not the end of eradication of childhood killer diseases
and by the end of 2004 if the world is able to achieve polio
eradication, which I vehemently doubt , but I pray to be wrong, another
disease will be isolated for eradication and the same vigour and
aggressiveness been seen on polio will be extended to that disease.
With
that policy, the state will continue to repeatedly be purchasing
vaccines, certainly that will be an excess legacy which another
administration may not find it feasible. With regard to purchasing
vaccines in Muslim populated countries in Asia, equally that may only
achieve in widening the gap and suspicion between Islam and the West ,
that scenario will be
subjectively used by mischief makers to cause more havoc.
In
essence, if the state is considering that policy, OPV can be purchased
from any manufacturer be it in France, Belgium, Italy and /or Indonesia,
after all, it is not going to be a donation,
as such the state can insist of OPV without any contamination. On another angle, as it was reported by Mal Yau Sule Yau, the Press Secretary to the State Governor in an interview aired at BBC Hausa service, 6 : 30 Nigerian time on Tuesday, 23rd, March, 04, he mentioned that the state government is willing to accept fresh OPV devoid of contamination from the federal government, I think that is a welcome development and a positive one and that shift from not participating in immunization as before should be hailed by all sundries as I mentioned earlier , the federal government is advised to provide OPV minus the insignificant amount of oestradiol. Finally, as a long-term benefit, I am of the belief that it is better for Kano and other interested states to purchase state of the art testing equipment and facilities for vaccines and other drugs than to be importing vaccines repeatedly. |