Muslim Scholars Fighting Polio in India
LUCKNOW, India — Muslim scholars have joined a government campaign in northern India to fight polio, a crippling disease on the rise particularly among Muslim children due to wrong beliefs.
"Large-scale participation of Muslim scholars is a boost to our eradication drive," V.S. Nigam, a senior health official in the northern Indian region, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Tuesday, December 19.
All India Ulema Council decided Monday, December 18, to take part in the polio eradication campaign, volunteering to join vaccination teams and visit localities and villages to raise the parents' awareness about the benefits of the polio drops.
"we have come together to fight polio since majority of the cases being reported are among Muslim children," India's mass-circulation Hindustan Times quoted Imam Fazlur Rehman Waizi as saying Monday.
In one of the biggest outbreaks of the virus in recent years, India has reported 583 polio cases in 2006.
Some 481 case were reported in the poor, populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh alone, up from just 66 cases last year.
Three years ago, India almost wiped out the disease after an intense nationwide vaccination campaign, but a combination of factors, including illiteracy and superstitious beliefs, helped the disease to make a comeback.
Polio, a disease that can paralyze a child for life within hours, has been largely eliminated in most of the world but still plagues Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
There were a total of 1,900 cases reported worldwide last year, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative spearheaded by the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO).
Wrong Beliefs
“Reports indicate that Muslims are resisting vaccination and are suspicious about polio drops," Waizi said.
The polio campaign will mainly focus on Uttar Pradesh's Muslim neighborhoods, where many residents have routinely stayed away from immunization programs.
"It is disheartening to see Muslim parents saying no to polio vaccine," Khalid Rashid, chairman of the Ulema Council told AFP.
Muslim residents refuse to receive health workers who visit them to vaccinate their children, believing the program was a form of sterilization plot to make their community infertile.
"Reports indicate that Muslims are resisting vaccination and are suspicious about polio drops," Waizi said.
Banners and posters in many villages ask Muslims not to allow health workers to enter their homes to give polio vaccines.
Muslim children make 70 percent of the polio cases in the region due to the wide-scale boycott of vaccination.
Waizi maintained that it is the duty of the Muslim scholars to visit the areas to inform the people and allay doubts over the vaccine's safety.
"We will go to villages and ask parents to give polio drops to their children," Rashid echoed.
Muslims account for 140 million of India's 1.1 billion people, the world's third-largest Islamic population after those of Indonesia and Pakistan
An Indian government report revealed on November 18 that India's Muslims are lagging behind and face more poverty and illiteracy than any other community in the country.
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