WEEKLY TRUST

JUNE 7

Northern Nigeria: How distrust marred polio vaccine project

Nasir Dambatta

Strong indications have now emerged that a growing suspicion against the motive behind polio vaccine exercise in Northern Nigeria may have been responsible for the drawback the project has suffered from. Years ago, analysts hinged the failure of the project on the low level of literacy in Northern Nigeria. Experts now say the distrust may have emanated from the side-effects of the vaccine, which include neurological disorders.

Valerie Williams of US-based WFAA television station reported in Channel 8 News that "for decades, half of all childhood vaccines contained a chemical preservative" known as Thimerosal. This preservative is made from mercury, believed to be one of the most poisonous substances in the world. The Dallas-based Channel 8 News television had for three months investigated claims that government regulators and some pharmaceutical companies knew of the dangers, but never told the public.

It is evident that at a higher intellectual and scientific level, the issue of polio vaccines has generated a raging debate. Investigations reveal that before the 1990s, one out of 10,000 children were diagnosed with autism. But that in the past decade, as governments increased the number of mandatory vaccines, some recent studies suggest that the rate of autism has risen to one out of 250 children. Scientists link this sorry development to "mercury poisoning." Consequently, reported WFAA TV’s Valerie Williams, "since last year, another 50 families with autistic children in eight states (of America)" have filed suits "against pharmaceutical companies who put Thimerosal in their vaccines.

When the polio vaccine exercise kicked off in Northern Nigeria, recently many a parent always turned back the officials of the exercise who had been operating on a house-to-house basis. The vaccine officials administered oral drops of the vaccine, at least three or four times on children, especially in the rural areas. In some urban areas of Northern Nigeria, the polio project officials that go from house to house are shown evidence of the vaccination done in hospitals to avoid duplication.

There is the growing consensus that the perception of people in the developing world against the west has had a chilling effect on the success of the polio vaccine exercise. A substantial number of the populace, especially in Northern Nigeria view any form of "assistance" or crusade from the western world with suspicion. At a recent interactive session held by international agencies, including United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNDP, the declining acceptability of polio vaccines in Northern Nigeria became the issue of discourse.

Discussants at the interactive session exchanged ideas on the need for new frontiers of public enlightenment on polio vaccination in Northern Nigeria. Participants acknowledged the rising suspicion that the vaccine has links to the spread of HIV/AIDS infection in the society. The participants agreed that publications should be produced in native languages for the people in Northern Nigeria. Already, one awareness pamphlet on polio vaccines and the refutation of their damaging effects has been published.

The awareness pamphlet showed that Dr A. H. Rafindadi of the pathology department in Ahmadu Bello University may have carried out laboratory test on the polio vaccines in use in Nigeria. His findings, as the pamphlet has shown, indicate that no trace of estrogens, projestagins or prolactin could be found therein. Dr Rafindadi’s laboratory checks, according to the pamphlet, showed no presence of the tuberculosis virus, or that which affects the blood system in humans or even any manner of virus that could harm the human immune system generally. His investigation, according to the pamphlet, only mentioned a minor rise in body temperature upto 1500RPM for five minutes.

The laboratory work was informed by growing suspicion over the effects of the polio vaccine. Pursuant to the mounting suspicion, Dr Rafindadi collected two samples of the polio vaccine with the permission of the lady in charge of National Programme or Immunisation, Dr Dere Awosika. The outcome of the laboratory test was then handed over to Alhaji Sani Balarabe Saulawa, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Sharia Implementation in Nigeria, Katsina State chapter. The council’s secretary-general had earlier written to Dr Rafindadi seeking professional clarification on the growing public discontent and suspicion over polio vaccine. Some eleven series of laboratory tests were conducted, according to the pamphlet, wherefrom the latest report by Dr Rafindadi emerged.

On a higher plane, the American Academy of Pediatrics and CDC pharmaceutical companies agreed in March 2001 that the production of vaccines containing Thimerosal be stopped. Recent reports show that "while production may have ceased, vaccine vials already containing Thimerosal were not recalled." Lending credence to the dangers posed by Thimerosal in the vaccine, the chairman of the chemistry department of the University of Kentucky, Dr Boyd Haley (who is a leading expert on mercury poisoning) said "I can’t think of anything that I know of is more lethal." But a professor of pediatrics of UT Southwestern University in Dallas, Texas, disagreed with Dr Haley. Said he: "I believe there is no data thus far that’ve been looked at to prove that there is connection (poisoning) – that there is a causative relationship."

According to WFAA, "approximately 12 out of the 18 vaccine doses the average American child receives before the age of two contain Thimerosal. Cumulatively, that’s more than 200 micrograms of mercury, which would fit on the head of a pin." But a renowned health body, the EPA said "dropping that pin head of mercury into 23 gallons of water is unsafe for human consumption." To this, Dallas attorney, Andy Waters, said: "Think about the idea of injecting your own child with levels of mercury that are 30 to 40 times what’s considered safe for an adult."

The raging polio and other vaccines’ controversy, according Dr Sidney Baker, author of some six medical books, said it was not without reasons. He noted, for example, that CDC pharmaceutical companies, "refusal to release raw data from its study, for outside experts to evaluate (a standard protocol in medical research) is helping to fuel the controversy."

It is not clear whether the pamphlet that contained Dr Rafindadi’s findings has made the desired impact. For the linkage of the spread of HIV/AIDS with the polio vaccines has been winning the hearts of the Northern Nigerian populace, especially in the rural areas. However, numerous scientific findings, including Dr Rafindadi’s and others’ have sought to discredit that belief. But other scientific studies show the contrary. For instance, Brian Martin in his treatise titled: "Political Refutation of a Scientific Theory: The case of Polio Vaccines and the Origin of AIDS," sought to establish the link between the vaccine and AIDS. Said he: "Many alternative theories have been proposed, including that AIDS is the inadvertent or intentional product of biological warfare experiments and that HIV is neither necessary nor sufficient to cause AIDS. Here, only one particular theory is examined: that AIDS arose from contaminated polio vaccines used in Africa from 1957 – 1959."

The link between contaminated polio virus and the spread of HIV was also encapsulated by B.F. Elswood and R. B. Stricker in Brian Martins’ website. They wrote that "… the largest vaccine contamination in medical history occurred from 1954 through early 1963 when millions of people around the world received polio vaccines that had been contaminated with a monkey virus." Their rather lengthy theses closed with a quoted warning by a scientist: "The story of AIDS teaches us that animal tissues should not be injected into humans, because the risk of introducing a new virus is too great."

The global war on the eradication of polio by the end of 2003 may achieve the desired goals, but the growing suspicion of the motive elements of this noble goal cannot be ignored. It is evident that Northern Nigeria represents a fraction of the many developing countries where vaccine projects suffer a slump in popularity.

The challenge before the promoters of war on the eradication of polio is perhaps how to disabuse the minds of their target audience by publications in languages the audience would understand. Or the effective use of electronic media. And as one participant noted during the interactive session on polio in Kaduna, "trust is epicentral to any relationship." With events happening in the Middle East and other parts of the world, suspicion remains the biggest challenge even for polio eradication project.

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