Teachers join push against tetanus jab
What you need to know:
- Kuppet secretary-general Akello Misori described the move by the ministry a threat to their jobs.
- “A generation will come when we will not have children to teach. We will, therefore, end up with no jobs,” he said.
A teachers’ union has joined the Catholic Church in asking Kenyan women to avoid taking the tetanus vaccination being spearheaded by the Health ministry.
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has also called for investigations into the concerns raised by the church.
Kuppet secretary-general Akello Misori described the move by the ministry a threat to their jobs.
“A generation will come when we will not have children to teach. We will, therefore, end up with no jobs,” he said.
Mr Misori spoke during a funeral in Homa Bay.
He also criticised Unicef and the World Health Organisation for bankrolling the programme.
He wondered why they were not channelling such funds towards the fight against Ebola, which is ravaging West Africa.
PRESENT FINDINGS
This comes as the Catholic Church on Tuesday presents its concerns and findings on the tetanus vaccine to the parliamentary Health Committee at 10am.
The Catholic Church has in the past raised the alarm over the vaccine that is targeting women of reproductive age, saying it is laced with a human hormone, Beta hCG, which can cause a miscarriage.
The human chorionic gonadotrophin or hCG is a natural hormone that is secreted in the initial stages of pregnancy and helps to sustain it to full term.
However, when injected to a non-pregnant woman, combined with the tetanus antigen, she develops antibodies against both the lockjaw and hCG.
Therefore, when pregnant, her body will produce anti-hCG antibodies and be unable to sustain the pregnancy.
The Catholic Church insists that it had commissioned laboratory research on samples of the vaccine and had overwhelming evidence on its effects.
In October, the chairman of the church’s health commission, Bishop Paul Kariuki Njiru, said: “We have irrefutable proof that the tetanus vaccines administered on girls and women aged between 14 and 49 in this country in March 2014 contained Beta hCG.”
However, the Church has not shared the details of the alleged research with the public.
Dr Stephen Karanja of the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association said: “Once and for all, we will put this matter before Kenyans. Our findings in March found that the vaccines were laced with hCG and it is the same with the vaccines given out in October.”
The vaccination carried out last month was round three, with the first being in September 2013. The second was in March this year. Those who were initially vaccinated would be getting their final “booster” dose.
According to the Health ministry, a child dies every day from tetanus. Globally, one new-born dies every nine minutes from neonatal tetanus.
The ministry has insisted that the claims by the Catholic Church are unfounded and the tetanus vaccine is safe.
Head of the Immunisation Technical Group, Dr Collins Tabu, said: “There is no other additive other than the tetanus antigen. When it is given to a person, they produce antibodies against tetanus and the body is, thus, protected. It does not have the human hormone as it is also given to pregnant women and men.”
He said there are women who were vaccinated in September 2013 and March this year who are now expectant.
