Catholic Bishops in Kenya Call on Government to Postpone Polio Vaccination Campaign Set to Kick Off on Saturday

CANAA || By Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla || 30 July 2015

The Catholic Bishops in Kenya have collectively called on the government to consider postponing the planned countrywide vaccination campaign against polio until the documentations about the safety of the vaccine are made public.

“We are asking the Ministry of Health to postpone the polio vaccination campaign scheduled to commence on 1^st August 2015 until we can assure Kenyans of their safety,” the Bishops stated in a press statement released on Tuesday, July 28.

“Should this not be done, we the Catholic Bishops in Kenya are asking all Kenyans not to participate in the exercise until such a time that the manufacturer’s declaratory documents have been produced, the recommended sampling and testing has been undertaken and confirmed that the vaccines are safe for use in Kenya,” the Bishops continued in a letter signed by the Chairman of Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Bishop Philip Anyolo, on behalf of all the Catholic Bishops in Kenya.

The Bishops in Kenya have in the past objected to the use of a tetanus vaccine, claiming that the vaccine was a disguised contraceptive, laced with a hormone that makes women infertile.

In the Tuesday press statement, the Church leaders accused the government of not honoring previous resolutions, namely, that “all mass vaccination Campaigns in this country be done only with an all-inclusive sampling and appropriate testing exercise undertaken before, during and after the vaccination Campaign to ensure safety of vaccines.”

“We have waited for joint sampling of the polio vaccines since April 2015 with no success,” the Bishops lamented, adding, “In light of these happenings, we are deeply concerned about the casual manner in which legitimate concerns raised on behalf of Kenyans are being handled.”

Over 30 Catholic Association of Members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday added their voice to the bishops’ statement, threatening to stop Kenyans from having their children get the polio vaccine.

“If there is nothing wrong with the vaccine, why has it not made public the results? Does it have anything to hide?” the MPs queried in a statement read by Wundanyi MP, Thomas Mwadeghu.

On its part, the Government of Kenya has maintained that the Polio Vaccine is safe for use in Kenya and that the campaign will proceed as planned.

“We respect the church but if we try to manage health through individual beliefs, it will be difficult. Let us look at the bigger picture as this is a global campaign,” Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has been quoted as saying.

The Director of Medical Services Nicholas Muraguri has also said that the polio vaccination campaign scheduled to begin on Saturday will go on as planned, accusing the Catholic bishops of dishonesty.

“Many meetings have been held after we postponed the campaign five months ago but we reached a point where we had to make a difficult choice to ensure children are not exposed to polio. We will not allow three people to stop this campaign,” Dr. Muraguri has been quoted as saying.

Dr Muraguri said the disagreement with church emanated from demands that tests on the vaccine be done at a certain laboratory while regulations stipulate they are done in a WHO approved laboratory.

The country director of WHO in Kenya, Custodia Mandlhate has been quoted as accusing the Church leaders in Kenya of “lying and being hypocritical.”

Below is the full statement of the Catholic Bishops in Kenya.

PRESS STATEMENT BY THE KENYA CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS

ON THE SCHEDULED POLIO SUPPLEMENTARY IMMUNIZATION ACTIVITIES

The truth will set us free:  The safety of Kenyans must be assured.
 
At the beginning of this year, KCCB adopted a recommendation by the joint Ministry of Health/KCCB Committee of experts on tetanus vaccine that; all mass vaccination Campaigns in this country be done only with an all-inclusive sampling and appropriate testing exercise undertaken before, during and after the vaccination Campaign to ensure safety of vaccines.
 
This recommendation was presented to the Office of the President in a meeting held on 16^th January 2015 convened by Mr. Joseph Kinyua and attended by the Cabinet Secretary and Principle Secretary MoH; the meeting adopted this recommendation and further resolved that a permanent committee be formed for this purpose. We are still waiting for this to be done.
 
On 14^th April 2015, KCCB held a consultative meeting with the Director of Medical Services and senior members of his team, on the Polio vaccination campaign that had been scheduled for April and May 2015. The Campaign was postponed and the following were resolved:

1. That the manufacturer provides us with declaratory documents including the chromatograms from a High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) tests done internally in their quality assurance laboratory. This should include the pre-test prep of the sample.
2. That we undertake joint sampling of the vaccines.
3. That we run the samples through an independent HPLC machine and confirm if our test results will match those of the manufacturer.

None of these resolutions have been implemented to date.
 
On 7^th July 2015, KCCB held another Polio vaccination consultation with the Director of Medical Services and his team. The meeting resolved as follows:

1. That to ensure that the polio vaccines to be used for the Campaign are safe for Kenyan children; a joint MoH/KCCB committee undertakes joint sampling of the polio vaccines to be tested by the National Quality Control laboratory and another private independent laboratory.
2. For faster laboratory analysis, the manufacturer’s declaration with the corresponding Chromatogram would be required so that the laboratory tests to be carried out on the vaccine are to confirm that the results correspond with those presented by the manufacturer. This is the pre-requisite process by Pharmacy and Poisons Board for all drugs to be registered for use in Kenya in line with Kenya’s medicines quality assurance processes.

 
None of these resolutions have been undertaken.
 
In light of these happenings, we are deeply concerned about the casual manner in which legitimate concerns raised on behalf of Kenyans are being handled.
 
We have waited for joint sampling of the polio vaccines since April 2015 with no success.
 
We have similarly waited for the manufacturer’s declaratory information with no success yet millions of these doses are already in Kenya.
 
We are not in conflict with the MoH but we have an Apostolic and moral duty to ensure that Kenyans are getting safe vaccines.
 
What is so wrong or bad about the questions and recommendations by KCCB?
 
Recently, we experienced 30 children being paralyzed after receiving injections of what is highly suspected to have had a problem.
 
There was also another case where anti-malarial drugs, believed to be quinine meant for advanced treatment of malaria and already in use were confirmed to only contain paracetamol when the expected response was not forthcoming.
 
Unless safety is addressed, such cases will continue to happen.
 
The well-being and safety of Kenya people has to be protected.  The future and security of our children is at stake and hence diligent need to address these security concerns.
 
In light of all these concerns, we are asking the Ministry of Health to postpone the polio vaccination campaign scheduled to commence on 1^st August 2015 until we can assure Kenyans of their safety.
 
Should this not be done, we the Catholic Bishops in Kenya are asking all Kenyans not to participate in the exercise until such a time that the manufacturer’s declaratory documents have been produced, the recommended sampling and testing has been undertaken and confirmed that the vaccines are safe for use in Kenya. 
 
May our good Lord continue to bless you all.
 
Signed by:
___________________________________________________
Rt. Rev. Philip Anyolo ( Bishop of Homa Bay)
Chairman – Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops
DATE: 28^TH JULY 2015
 
Rt. Rev. John Oballa Owaa, Vice Chairman (KCCB), Ngong
His Eminence John Cardinal Njue, Nairobi
Most Rev. Zacchaeus Okoth, Kisumu
Most Rev. Peter Kairo, Nyeri
Most Rev. Martin Kivuva Musonde, Mombasa
Rt. Rev. Paul Darmanin, Garissa
Rt. Rev. Cornelius Arap Korir, Eldoret
Rt. Rev. Joseph Mairura Okemwa, Kisii
Rt. Rev. Alfred Rotich, Military Ordinariate
Rt. Rev. Maurice Crowley, Kitale
Rt. Rev. Norman Wambua King’oo, Bungoma
Rt. Rev. Peter Kihara, IMC, Marsabit
Rt. Rev. David Kamau Ng’ang’a, Aux. Bishop Nairobi
Rt. Rev. Anthony Ireri Mukobo, IMC, Isiolo Vicariate
Rt. Rev. Virgilio Pante, Maralal
Rt. Rev. Salesius Mugambi, Meru
Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Okombo, Kericho
Rt. Rev. Anthony Muheria, Kitui & Apostolic Administrator, Machakos
Rt. Rev. James Maria Wainaina, Muranga
Rt. Rev. Paul Kariuki Njiru, Embu
Rt. Rev. Maurice Muhatia Makumba, Nakuru
Rt. Rev. Dominic Kimengich, Lodwar
Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Barbara, Malindi
Rt. Rev. Joseph Mbatia, Nyahururu
Rt. Rev. Joseph Alessandro, Co-Adjutor Bishop Garissa
Rt. Rev. Joseph Obanyi Sagwe, Kakamega