Anti-Americanism can damage people’s health:
A campaign to wipe out polio in Africa is being jeopardised by suspicions among Muslim leaders in Nigeria that the vaccination programme is an American plot to make Muslims infertile.
A boycott of the oral polio vaccine spread to two more Muslim-dominated states in northern Nigeria yesterday, after three states banned the vaccine campaign last year.
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The rumours are believed to have originated from American websites promoting alternative medicine, and include claims that the vaccine contains anti-fertility drugs, can cause Aids, and is linked to mad cow disease.The World Health Organisation and Unicef launched a massive polio immunisation drive this week which aims to inoculate 63 million children in 10 African countries against the virus.