PLoS Medicine
(Accessed 9 August 2014)
http://www.plosmedicine.org/
Health in Action
From Intense Rejection to Advocacy: How Muslim Clerics Were Engaged in a Polio Eradication Initiative in Northern Nigeria
Sani-Gwarzo Nasir, Gambo Aliyu mail, Inuwa Ya’u, Muktar Gadanya, Muktar Mohammad, Mahmud Zubair, Samer S. El-Kamary
Published: August 05, 2014
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001687
Summary Points
:: Of the several setbacks suffered by the polio eradication initiative in Nigeria, vaccination rejection by Muslim clerics (imams) is perhaps the most profound.
:: Anti-polio propaganda, misconceptions, and violence against vaccinators at the community level present huge challenges to polio eradication in Nigeria and globally.
:: However, the intense opposition to polio vaccination is systematically being reversed by the active engagement of imams to promote uptake of polio vaccination in areas worst hit by the disease.
:: A coalition campaign involving imams, Islamic school teachers, traditional rulers, doctors, journalists, and polio survivors is gradually turning the tide against polio vaccine rejection in northern Nigeria.
:: Innovative engagement and the coalition campaign at the community level should be part of the focus of the polio eradication initiative in Nigeria.