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| Africa: West | |
| Nigerian Muslims Refusing Polio Drops for their Children | |
| 2003-10-25 | |
| An emergency drive to vaccinate Nigerians against polio as a spreading outbreak threatens worldwide efforts to eradicate the disease faces suspicions among Muslim fundamentalists. Muslim fundamentalists, again. Three predominantly Muslim states in northern Nigeria — Kano, Kaduna and Zamfara — have either delayed or refused permission for the vaccination drive, with Zamfara demanding proof the vaccine is safe, something U.N. officials say has been repeatedly supplied. "The Western world has never wished Muslims well," said Yakubu Husseini, a 20-year-old teacher coming out of Friday prayers in Kano. "Why should they expect us to believe that vaccines they make these days are not another frontier to wage war against Muslims?" Notice the occupation of the wacko muslim—a teacher. What do you think he’s teaching his students? International immunization campaigns have slashed the number of countries where poliovirus is still breeding to seven — Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Niger and Somalia. Ninety-nine percent of all new polio cases in the world are in Nigeria, Pakistan and India. What do those seven countries have in common? Poverty? Rivers and heat? Sure, something else as well: they all have large muslim populations. Nigerian Muslims have become increasingly suspicious of vaccine initiatives since 1996, when families in Kano accused New York-based Pfizer Inc. of using an experimental meningitis drug on patients without fully informing them of the risks. Note to Pfizer: don’t ever give them another life-saving medicine. You save their children, they seek to destroy you. "Allah knows better than all Western powers combined," said Yau Kabir, a 26-year-old Muslim theology student. "He has guided the Muslim community since the time of old. This he did without immunization. We do not need it." "Ignorance now, igonorance ever, ignorance forever."
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| Posted by:Sorge |
| #12 all world -smart, modern in accepting current technology HUH? Those are the idiots that refuse medical care because of a heretic named Mary Baker Eddy and you have respect for those assholes?!--you must have loved Jim Jones--he only was responsible for 900 some deaths--their bogus religions has killed more |
| Posted by: NotMikeMoore 2003-10-25 11:03:48 PM |
| #11 I started to say how evil and stupid these people are, but I also remembered Christian Scientists. I've worked with several christian scientists - all world-smart, modern in accepting current technology, and all-around excellent people to deal with. I just don't get how a parent could do this - refusing what the rest of the world accepts as a cure. Similar thinking between the groups, different conditions - I just don't get it, and will always grieve for children suffering the consequences for their parent's beliefs |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-25 9:38:09 PM |
| #10 Ed and OP, I have a few post-polio patients in my clinic at work. Ed's right about how the syndrome really runs you down over time -- multiple joint deformities, loss of limb and spine function, lowered resistance to infections, etc. It's my observation that the post-polio patients are amongst the more noble people on this planet -- they refuse to give in, they keep fighting, and they have a lot of grace about them. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-10-25 6:00:24 PM |
| #9 I feel for you, buddy. Been there, done that. Saulk, despite his minor failings in personality, was a hero who should have statues erected in his memory across the entire planet. Can we install them by air-drop? Heck, if you can put a guidance package on a slug of concrete, why not a statue? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-10-25 4:10:43 PM |
| #8 "Why should they expect us to believe that vaccines they make these days are not another frontier to wage war against Muslims?" He's right. This is how we make war against the savages. Wait till he sees a toilet. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-10-25 3:53:33 PM |
| #7 Old Patriot - What your friend probably died from is the condition now known as "Post-Polio syndrome". Basically, Bruce's nervous system, having been stressed by the polio virus, didn't recover fully and used up most of its reserves in the battle. After which, it had no reserves left over for the (more) natural ravages of old age. Rather like a fuse that _almost-but-doesn't-quite_ blow during a power surge.. it's forever after more sensitive to the next surge to come along. I feel for you, buddy. Been there, done that. Saulk, despite his minor failings in personality, was a hero who should have statues erected in his memory across the entire planet. Ed Becerra. |
| Posted by: Ed Becerra 2003-10-25 3:51:32 PM |
| #6 I still have a large scar on my left arm from my own polio vaccine in 1977 (I was born in 76', in Cuba.) Every time I see it I remember that it was possible to beat back the scourge thanks to progress and science. Muslim fanatics are against both. That's why we fight. |
| Posted by: Sorge 2003-10-25 2:39:41 PM |
| #5 One of my classmates had polio. Ours was one of the first schools that offered students in Louisiana the experimental drugs being tested in large numbers at that time. That was 1953 or 1954, if I remember correctly. BIG needle in those days - no sugar cube, no dropper on the tongue. Bruce had to wear a leg brace, and one leg was shorter than the other. NONE of us wanted that kind of a problem for ourselves. I think 90% of my class was innoculated. Bruce died last year, at 55. People who survive polio don't necessarily ever TOTALLY recover from it, and it shortens lifespans considerably. The military REQUIRED polio immunization. Between school and the military, I think I've been inoculated against polio about 20 times. So far, it's worked. Can't say anything about long-term side effects - no one in their right mind would even ATTEMPT to try to discover side effects from polio vaccine from all the other fun things I've done to my body myself, or with the military's 'help'. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-10-25 12:40:04 PM |
| #4 Had a fifth grade teacher that had had polio when she was a child. She was a gentle soul, may she rest in peace. It is discouraging to see a scourge like polio make a rebound due to human ignorance. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-25 11:51:15 AM |
| #3 Oh well. Less of them. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-10-25 11:43:54 AM |
| #2 Darwinism at its finest. Let them all kick, then. |
| Posted by: Raj 2003-10-25 11:29:30 AM |
| #1 Oh well, Darwinism at work..... |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2003-10-25 11:29:02 AM |