IMMUNISATION: KANO BOWS TO FG

[mallamt]

IMMUNISATION:  KANO BOWS TO FG

THISDAY NEWS
3/10/04


After several months of a frosty relationship between the Federal Government and the Kano State Government over questions raised by the lattest on the potency of vaccines imported by the former for its national immunisation programme, history was yesterday made as the Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, submitted his daughter for the exercise. She was immunised by President Olusegun Obasanjo who also declared next Saturday as a national stay-at-home day for the exercise.

The order, according to him, shall be in free betweeen 6am and 1pm throughout the country.

The event, which put paid to months of accrimonies and politicking between officials of both governments, marked the highlight of the commencement of the synchronised National Immunisation Days (NIDs) flagged-off in Kano by President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The President also declared a stay at home order in the entire country for next Saturday (October 9), from 6am to 1pm to enable the vaccinating teams reach the eligble children for the exercise.

"I call on all Nigerians, parents and care-givers to be by the side of our children during this exercise. I also call on all executive governors, local government chairman, religious, traditional and opinion leaders in our great country to rise up to this challenge," said the President.

Speaking further Obasanjo said "that a series of programmes including a joint (press conference by the National Assembly as well as novelty football match on 8th October by children's parliament with the Senate President and the Speaker House of Representatives serving as celebrity refrees.

He, however, urged Nigerians to guarantee a virle development for the country by way of ensuring a polio-free Africa and Nigeria.

"Let us show our children that we still habour those long cherished nortures of love, caring, protection and sensitivity. Let us receive the vaccination teams in our homes, schools, churches, mosques and public places and make our eligble children available for the administrationo f the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)," he stressed.

Earlier, Kano State Governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau disclosed that the state government had supported the recent immunisation programmes in the state wit ---- .

He said, despite the short coming caused by the recent suspension of the programme in the state, both first and second round of sub-national immunisation days had recorded tremendous successes with figures of 2.1 million and 2.5 million children respectively.

However, a one-year old daughter of Kano State Governor, Sainab Ibrahim Shekarau was among the children immunised yesterday, when President Obasanjo dropped the vaccine in her mouth as part of the ceremony to flagg-off the programme.

Among the dignitaries that graced the occasion includes representative of the African Union (AU), Mr. Omar Konare, Emir of Kano, Alli Ado Bayero, and Governors of Kaduna, Bauchi and Borno States.

Obasanjo, who commended the synchronisation efforts being implemented by West African countries towards final push to polio eradication, said the approach needs to be encouraged and pursued vigorously particularly as the inter-counting trades and inter and intra-state borders.
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So who will be held responsible for the children who got polio due to the debate on the vaccine?  I just wish the gov. can come out and publicly appologise to the people of the state for jeopadising the health of their children in another place he would be sued for gross incompetence and jeopadising the health of children. Unfortunately there are people who will argue in his support and try to suggest he is not responsible for whatever may have happened.  Well  he is the Chief Executive of the Kano State and he is responsible.  Polotics must never be allowed to interfer or play around with peoples well being

[SAAHIB 92]

mallamt,

that's true mallamt, but the problem was for instance if u begin to show some light  about the insencerity, lack of focus towards ppl interest,which this govt of kano state  was committed for,believe me  if a chance could be given somebody will crucify u, if not declare u  as a man wiz doublestand.simply because u ve' express ur views and shade more light on sensetive issues which most of the ppl were either ignorant abt or they remain silence because they re' eating fat from the system.

allah ya sawake

[alhaji_aminu]

salam

I think the headline is more sensational than the truth contained there-in. The article did not, for instance say, that the vaccines used on that day were the 'halal', for laughing sakes, version. That is, the one imported from Indonesia I believe. This do not contain the trace of the fertility supressing hormone.
I am not entirely on the same page with Shekarau on this issue. I think the amount of the hormone in the OPV is insufficient to cause fertility problems for the girl child. What I do agree with Shekarau is that, we must acknowledge that there are traces of that hormone and the hush-hush attempted to silence people who brought this up, by Obasanjo and all those who work with him, is an embarassment and betrayal to the Nigerian people.

mallamt: Shekarau has nothing to apologise for. In fact he should be commended for putting the interest of Kano children at heart by importing 'clean' drugs. Also, there has been this propaganda campaign suggesting that kano is spreading some sort of polio-epidemic. This is plainly ridiculous. Just because the vaccination was stalled for nine months, in Kano,  is not what is causing other countries to be infected.  When one thinks of the way polio virus is communicated, via hand of the contagious person contaminated with the stool of the contagious person, he cannot but agree this is a false charge.

[mallamt]

mallamt: Shekarau has nothing to apologise for. In fact he should be commended for putting the interest of Kano children at heart by importing 'clean' drugs. Also, there has been this propaganda campaign suggesting that kano is spreading some sort of polio-epidemic. This is plainly ridiculous. Just because the vaccination was stalled for nine months, in Kano, is not what is causing other countries to be infected. When one thinks of the way polio virus is communicated, via hand of the contagious person contaminated with the stool of the contagious person, he cannot but agree this is a false charge

myadudu

If I may ask you when did the gov know that children were to be vaccinated?  did he know only on the day they were to be vaccinated?  If he knew earliar why did he not ask that his state be provided with "clean" drugs from a country of his own choosing, why is it that he only decided the drugs are not clean or acceptable after they had been brought to the state and the program was about to commence? I disagree with you the gov has not put the interest of the children of kano first, he has betrayed them and parents in the state and he owes the people of the state an appology.  The vaccine from indonesia was tested and it is a known fact that scientist (even from indonesia) did agree that there was no difference with the ones that were supposed to have been used in Kano.  No one tried to hush hush on the issue of the hormones as it has been common knowledge.

You contest the possibility of polio from kano spreading to other states just because the vaccination was stoped for nine months.  Well SARS start spreading round the world in hours.  The method of communicting the desease as indicated by you is not the only way it can be transmitted but is the most common way.  Some the polio strain that was found in some countries was of the same strain as that of kano and that strain is peculiar to kano, that is why it was said that the desease was spreading from kano, the statement was not just made without some scientific investigations even though that is not to say that they may still be wrong but on the balance of probability we may say that they are right.

[alhaji_aminu]

salam

I havent got much time in my hand but let me say this fast.
If indeed the vaccines imported are not clean as he claimed, then yes he has betrayed the people of Kano and his daughter.
I do however think otherwise, how can any well meaning person do that?

[mallamt]

The drugs are clean and safe for the purpose they were manufactured, there were no unclean drugs brought to kano for the polio vaccination.  The reasons for betrayal are plenty in the world and in this case it could be political, it may also be that he was misled by his advisers.  whatever the case he is the cheif executive of the state and the buck stops with him, there for he is responsible

[alhaji_aminu]

mallamt you must be kidding. To you, if "...the drugs are clean and safe for the purpose they were manufactured..."  then all else doesnt matter.

What an illogical thought.

Mallamt try to chew on this. A drug, VIOXX, was recalled from the shelves of all American pharmacies because:
1) while it was good in doing what  its supposed to do- treating arthritis, it has
2) very adverse side effects.

What this says is that, even if a drug is good at doing what it is meant for, it is still unviable if it causes other diseases or ailments.

The OPV in Kano does prevent kids from contacting polio. That is absolutely true. But the estrodoil hormone traces have the potential of causing fertility problems for the girl child. And I guess you will agree with me that, just because the drug is good as polio deterrent must'nt make blind to its side effects.

You must either be deaf or insincere to say the drugs brought to Kano, and other parts of the World by the WHO, are clean. Even Dr Feynman the coordinator of the polio effort concedes there is a small but 'in consequential' traces of hormones in the OPV.
For the drug to be clean, it must not have any traces of the hormone. This can be done if the dead polio virus is cultured in Bovines instead of Primates. This would be very expensive though!  

And I insist, mallamt, based on all the hayagaga you've written, that mallam shekarau has not betrayed the people of Kano, at least not on this count!
peace

[_Waziri_]

Myadudu,

You are doing very well in this discourse in the sense that  you are following the right procedures in system thinking. Ordinarily and based on the reports by This-day Newspaper the Kano state Governor may be accussed. But I am glad to see that you are being objective by first trying to get at the reason for the governor's action first before you condemn him or commend him.

This is very true, for actions in  themselves - as I said here several times - are never right or wrong absolutely. What makes them right or wrong is the REASON behind them. That thing that PROMPTED them.

I hope I do not sound like one odd philosopher like dat!!!

[mallamt]

myadudu
You may have a point in what you have said but I suppose you have cleverly avoided raising your points in context of the discussion.  Firstly the use of the term clean was not and indication that the drug was clean in the literal sense, the term was used in the percieved context the first user used it (please go through the previous posts).  You are right that a drug may be good for its purpose but may cause other ailements, but the context in which clean and unclean was used in this discussion was not the same used by you when you were making your observations. For instance antibiotics, in terms of your point, will be considered unclean because they contain bacteria.  But my point which flows from an earliar post is just highlighting the fact that if thes "impurities" are not harmful then the drug is clean.  The types of impurities in the drug brought from indonesea and that from WHO is the same.  I still stand by my point that the gov owes the people of kano an appology on this matter.  When did he know that children were to be immunised? When did he know that Indonesia produces these vaccines? when did he know that the vaccine produced in indonesia is "halal"? why did he not request or demand that only the drug from indonesia be used in his state prior to commencement of vaccinations? If he did not know there were vaccinations to take place can we really say that he is capable to be gov.?  An estimated 300 children are said to have contracted polio due to this debacle over the 9 months vaccinations were suspended, who is then to be held responsible? if the gov acted responsibly is it possible that a large number of these children, if not all, could have been spared contracting polio?

[alhaji_aminu]

mallamt

I think you are trying to trivilize this issue by using arguments based on sematical or grammitical grounds. I mean, the context through which i am suggesting this drugs are clean is, regrettable to say, irrelevant. What matters is whether or not the drugs are composed of what the label says it's composed of. Truth: the hormone is not tabled in the ingredients chart. Thus, as to the  'cleanness' of this drug, we can only say it is not pure 'pure'. Because in it are stuff which aren't mentioned as being in it by the manufacturer.  

Your example on using antibiotics is completely irrelevant as well.  The point here is that antibiotics do work to fight infections that but doesn't make the "clean" or "pure" drugs. This makes the drug 'effective' or 'one with tremendous efficacy'. The bacterial or viral components of antibiotics are specified clearly and satisfactorily as the active ingredients of the drug. So any person taking that drug can do so knowing fully well he is being injected with cultured or synthetic viruses of bacteria.
In the Polio case, no such reporting was made. All it says on the box, presumably, is that the OPV has viruses which will enable our bodies develop resistance to our getting infected with the Virus neglectng the hormone part.

There is infact a world of difference between the 2 cases. In the antibiotics case, there is full disclosure; in the OPV case, there isn't. Very simple!

Now on the charge that the drugs imported from Indonesia are indeed one and same with the WHO batch, I can't say anything.
I'll just have to assume that a reasonable person will not go through all this hassle just to end up doing what he said he will not. Also, had this being the case, the main antagonists of WHO OPV- Dr Datti Ahmad, would surely have raised the case because it is he who raised the issue in the first place.

Finally, if your charges are true, that shekarau ended up using the same kind of vaccine, then he surely did betray his people......

thanks

[mallamt]

myadudu
I suppose I do agree with you substantially, I suggest that we do not even let ourselves get carried away with all the science and technical issues, because it will be unfair of us to expect that every person in leadership (this case kano gov.) to understand or be knowledgable in all areas of human endeavour.  The issue I am raising is that of leadership and management, if it was not evident in my postings on this matter.  The effectiveness or non effectiveness of the drugs are not an issue here, rather the actions of the governor, you and I will agree that we can not really hold the gov. responsible for the efficacy or cleanliness of the drugs, but we can hold him responsible for the leadership and management of the state, and I suppose this line of thought flows from the questions I asked in my previous postings on this matter.  Just as a reminder these were the questions:  When did he know that children were to be immunised? When did he know that Indonesia produces these vaccines? when did he know that the vaccine produced in indonesia is "halal"? why did he not request or demand that only the drug from indonesia be used in his state prior to commencement of vaccinations? If he did not know there were vaccinations to take place can we really say that he is capable to be gov.? An estimated 300 children are said to have contracted polio due to this debacle over the 9 months vaccinations were suspended, who is then to be held responsible? if the gov acted responsibly is it possible that a large number of these children, if not all, could have been spared contracting polio?
As you can see these questions do not necessarily apply to only the polio drugs but to any other drug.  Do you think that these are not questions we should ask the gov. on this matter? is he not responsible to answering us on this matter? should he then not appologise out of humility and respect of kano citizens for his oversight and or lack of leadership and management of this matter, that has resulted in a possible additional 300 children victims of polio that was unnecessary?