Eleven men in Mali were jailed after refusing to let their children
receive the polio vaccine. The men were charged with "resistance,
disobedience and rebellion against public authorities" and
sentenced to between six months and three years in prison.
The men, members of a Muslim sect, refused vaccination of their
daughters during a public health campaign because they believed
it would make their children sterile.
Polio, a viral disease that can cause irreversible total paralysis
in several hours, has reappeared in 13 African countries in the
last two years. It's thought that polio resurged in nearby Nigeria
after a northern state banned vaccines in mid-2003 because Muslim
elders said they were part of a plot to spread HIV and infertility.
The vaccinations resumed after 10 months.
Polio typically affects children under the age of 5; the vaccine
works by infecting the recipient with a benign virus and thereby
providing immunity to the harmful strain of the disease. At least
five rounds of national campaigns to vaccinate young children against
polio are scheduled this year in eight African countries that have
been hardest hit by the disease.
CNN
May 11, 2005
