Anti-polio drive pits law against faith

By Nicholas Anyuor and Stanley Ongwae

The ongoing polio vaccination has opened the dark side of some sect practices that have placed lives of hundreds of children in danger.

By nature, a child’s life follows the path the parent charts out for him or her ... until they are old enough to make choices.

LIFE SAVING JAB: Simple vaccine administered orally ensures a child lives a healthy life without being burdened by polio.Rebecca Odhiambo (right) holds two-month-old Peter Ochieng’ as he receives the dose. Photos: James Keyi/Standard

With this God-given authority to parents, some have chosen to make horrendous choices for their children, choices that have threatened the young ones’ lives and left them vulnerable to serious ailments that could have been avoided by a simple jab.

It is faith versus prudence. For many, the recent cases highlighted in the media about parents who declined to allow their children to be vaccinated citing faith, were shocking.

The Government reacted by forcefully giving the medicine to ensure the children’s rights were respected in regards to their health.

This was prompted by the case of little John Omondi, three, from tiny Kanying’ombe village in Rongo District, Migori County, who was diagnosed with a serious case of polio.

Omondi was in great pain and when investigations revealed he had the disease, years after polio had been conquered through medical interventions such as compulsory vaccinations, Public Health and Sanitation Minister Beth Mugo declared an outbreak that required emergency intervention. So a large scale vaccination targeting Nyanza began a few months ago.

When The Standard team visited Kanying’ombe recently, they found the boy and his mother, Nancy Atieno, 27, revealed that she had not taken the boy or her other four children for immunisation because it was against her faith. Infants receive free immunisation, including against polio, in all hospitals in the country.

"I didn’t take any of my children for vaccination because of my faith. I got saved in a church in this area. But Omondi has received the jab as I have left the church and joined another that doesn’t discourage vaccinations," she explains.

After salvation, says Atieno, her church insisted that prayer was the only way to cure a sick person and not visiting health facilities. Besides, the church doesn’t allow any form of treatment.

The fact that Atieno’s four children turned out fine despite not being vaccinated is one thing that boosts the sect’s teachings against medical care.

Right to health

"I had faith, but faith alone is not a cure. It is denying the child a right to health and shouldn’t be there," a reformed Atieno says.

Cases of parents not taking their children for vaccinations have been common in the country. Some parents suspected to have denied their children immunisation have been charged in courts.

Health experts argue that the existence of sects that do not allow vaccination could affect efforts to immunise children against all sorts of diseases.

Currently, sect members are hiding to avoid being forced to immunise their children. Many deny belonging sects, which usually hold prayers house to house.

The Standard spoke to a member in Kisumu who only gave his name as Onyango. He said teaching followers against immunisation was part of the sect’s doctrine.

Determined to hide

Although Onyango is not a father yet, he says sect members are determined to hide from the medical officers going from house to house and "forcefully" vaccinating children under five.

"Unfortunately, some are caught and immunised. But, we say, even those children immunised get sick. Many of our children are healthy," he argues.

He joined the sect more than ten years ago and all this time, members haven’t taken their children for any vaccination.

However, Bishop Washington Ogonyo Ngede of Power of Jesus Around the World, argues that denying a child vaccination is against biblical teachings.

Citing Exodus 15:24 where Moses put herbs in water that Israelites drunk to cure ailments, he says, "Anyone using the name of God to deny children treatment is a liar and will be judged accordingly."

Nyanza Public Health and Sanitation officer Jackson Kioko, says the resistance has affected their efforts to immunise children against infections.

Dr Kioko says those against argue that they have never gone to hospital and are in good health, an answer to their prayers.

It is because of such deep beliefs and other excuses to avoid the vaccine that the Government has so far embarked on awareness campaigns to inform everyone, especially sect members, about the importance of vaccination.

"We have actually made big strides but some are still stubborn. We want every child to be vaccinated, not only against polio, but also other infections such as pneumonia, measles and influenza," he says.

Steven Brian Omondi, eleven, the Kisumu Governor in the Children’s Assembly, says parents must respect the constitution which makes immunisation a child’s right.

Love the child

"We, the children have the right to have good health and whoever goes against that does not love the child. Parents should pray for us and at the same time take us to hospital," he says.

The Nyanza Provincial Children’s Officer Charles Ondogo says every parent has the responsibility to take a child for treatment and vaccination.

He says refusing to do so is a criminal offence, which calls for legal action according to Children’s Act.