Nairobi — Health workers backed by the police surrounded a Church and forcibly immunised children against polio after the church elders had protested that immunisation is against their doctrine.
One hundred and fifty five children whose parents are adherents of the Christ Apostolic Faith Church of Kpalexose in the Ho District of the Volta Region in southeastern Ghana were forcibly given polio vaccine and vitamin "A" supplement during this year's national polio immunisation programme.
This was after health authorities and district officials had tried unsuccessfully since January this year to persuade the church leadership to soften their stand against the immunisation exercise on the basis that it was against their religious doctrine. It took a combined team of the police, District Assembly members and health workers led by the District Chief Executive, Captain (rtd) George Kofi Mfojo to carry out the exercise described as very successful and incident free. That was the first time health workers had been able to immunise the children of members of the church.
The Christ Apostolic Church was established in 1931. Its doctrine is said to be against orthodox medical intervention and has persistently refused to allow children of its members to be immunised against polio. The members claim to rely on prayers, and nothing else, to cure all ailments. When the national immunisation day opened in the Ho District of the Volta region in southeastern Ghana a week ahead of schedule, members of the church locked up all their children under five years to prevent health teams from reaching them and administering the polio vaccine and the vitamin "A" supplement. Several entreaties by the district assembly officials, health workers and Rotary International which has committed US$400 million for the exercise, to convince the church members to have their children immunised against polio, fell on deaf ears.
Under an exercise named "Operation Polio Power" the District Chief Executive accompanied by the Presiding Member of the Ho District Assembly, Francis Kwaku and the District Director of Health, Dr Mark Amexo arrived at the church at about 11 am when the congregation was about to close and pretended to join in the service.
The church members gladly received them and after the closing prayer, Captain Mfodjo was offered the opportunity to deliver a goodwill message. There upon a busload of policemen and health workers swooped in and
surrounded the church building and the health workers began administering the polio vaccine as well as the vitamin "A" supplement to the children.
The stupefied church members were at first agitated but after their leaders asked them to hold it, the exercise proceeded and after 30 minutes all the 155 children in church that Sunday were immunised. When it was over, the enraged church members rattled in tongues, shed tears, wailed and called on God to punish the invaders.
The district heads expressed satisfaction with the exercise describing it as successful while the District Chief Executive emphasised that no church would be allowed to undermine any government programme to improve the living conditions of the people especially the deprived in the country. With the first phase completed the second phase of the polio immunisation programme comes off on February 19 and is expected to cover up to 80 per cent of all children under five years old throughout the country.
Health in general and child survival in particular remains a priority of the government and a lot of investment has gone into improving health delivery over the past few years. The number of government health facilities increased from 674 in 1994 to 859 by the middle of 1999 whilst the number of hospitals in the public sector increased from 62 to 82 within the same period. These developments have translated into overall improvements in health indices.
The average life expectancy has increased from 49 years in the late 1980s to 56 years by the clsoe of the century. More children are also now surviving the critical childhood years than ever before. The infant mortality rate dropped from 66.4 per 1000 live births in 1993 to 56.7 in 1999. Under-five mortality rate has gone down from 119.4 per 1000 live births in 1993 to 107.6 in 1999, an indication that immunisation exercises such as the annual polio immunisation programme, are covering wider areas and achieving more success. The programme to eradicate polio from Ghana by the end of the year 2000 is on track. In 1998, 23 cases of polio were reported. In 1999 only two cases of polio were detected.
"Operation Polio Power" may have given 155 more children the opportunity to face the crippling effects of poliomyelitis with the hope of conquering it but it has also re-opened the debate about whether it is health authorities or parents who should take the final decision when it comes to a child's interests. Many people including the media seem to concur that the action of the Ho district authorities in forcibly immunising the children against the wishes of their parents.
In a radio interview after the incident, the deputy commissioner in charge of administration of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Mrs. Angeline Dormakyaare, said the forcible immunisation of the children was appropriate.
However, Rev Dr Annor-Yeboah, General Secretary of the Christ Apostolic Church International, one of the most popular and fastest growing charismatic churches in Ghana, which was mistaken for the Christ Apostolic Faith Church, said even though the two churches are completely different he shares their religious concerns. He said the district authorities visited the violence on members of the Christ Apostolic Faith Church because they found them vulnerable and questioned why the same amount of force cannot be used to compel certain local communities to stop practicing certain customs that clearly violate human rights. He cited the "Trokosi" system in which young girls are given out to serve in shrines to atone for the sins of their parents or relatives.
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The "trokosi" system for which NGOs are working to 'liberate' its 'captives', is a custom practised in southern Ghana in which young girls are offered to serve a shrine to atone for a crime committed by the girl's parents or relatives. Though rarely boys are offered, it is often girls who are given out to suffer the humiliating conditions of life in the shrines as they are exposed to all kinds of abuse including sexual by the owners of the shrines. When they marry, and they invariably marry a shrine elder, their children face an uncertain future. Rev Annor Yeboah urged the authorities to always use dialogue to resolve issues pertaining to a person's faith and traditions in order to effect impressive and lasting change.
AFRICANEWS News & Views on Africa from Africa Koinonia Media Centre, P.O. Box 8034, Nairobi, Kenya email: amani@iol.it
