A JUDGE in Mali has jailed five leaders of a Muslim sect for preventing children in the village of Tandio being vaccinated against polio. The men said it was up to God to give or withhold disease, and in March reportedly threatened to kill health workers. Judge Sidiki Sandogo imposed sentences of between six months and three years for 鈥渞ebellion against public authorities鈥�.
In northern Nigeria, rumours that the oral polio vaccine was a western plot to spread HIV and infertility caused Muslim elders to block vaccination there in 2003, leading to the outbreak that has now re-infected 16 countries, including Indonesia and Yemen. The World Health Organization had hoped to eradicate polio worldwide by the end of this year.
鈥淲e still have a chance to meet our deadline,鈥� David Heymann, head of the eradication campaign at WHO, told New 杏吧原创. The key will be vaccinating millions of children in Africa before the rainy season begins, Heymann says, as the virus is carried by sewage-contaminated water.
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