Church vows not to relent on polio stand

Chairman of the Catholic Health Commission of Kenya,Rev Paul Kariuki Njiru (left) flanked by ,Dr Stephen Karanja during a press conference in Nairobi on the final Scientific report of the Tetanus Vaccine used in Mass Vaccination Campaigns in March and October 2014. [PHOTODAVID NJAAGA/STANDARD]

The Catholic Church has ruled out any form of compromise with the Government over the polio vaccine unless an all-inclusive and acceptable sample testing to determine its validity is conducted.

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops Health Committee Chairman Paul Kariuki (pictured) accused the Government of taking church representatives in circles in allaying their fears over the safety of the vaccine.

Rev Kariuki who is the Bishop of the Diocese of Embu said the church was not  opposed to the immunisation programme considering polio cases were reported in the country in 2013.

He said the church could not understand the Health ministry's reluctance to jointly sample and test the vaccine.

"We have met the Government representatives more than three times and they promised to wait for the joint testing but that is not happening. We are ready to use the Government laboratories since they have qualified personnel but instead, the Health ministry representatives are taking us in circles," he said.

Speaking at St Peter's Ishiara Primary School during a funds drive, Kariuki said in the absence of the report from the joint testing, the church wants the faithful to boycott the exercise.

But he advised for continued routine vaccinations at hospitals and clinics.

Despite the church protest, the Government on Saturday embarked on the anti-polio vaccine campaign targeting about six million children in 32 counties, following a study that showed they were at risk.

The first phase of the campaign comes to an end tomorrow while the second phase commences on August 29 to September 2.

Meanwhile, Manyatta MP John Muchiri has called for the postponement of the vaccination programme.