NIGERIA: Polio immunization go-ahead after HIV rumours

A polio immunization campaign in Nigeria's Muslim state of Kano, recently halted by rumours that the vaccine was part of a US plot to spread HIV among the people, is set to resume, the Associated Press reports.

The country's northern region has been the global epicentre of a polio epidemic since it refused to allow inoculations by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in October 2003.

In January Nigeria sent representatives to South Africa, Indonesia and India to observe testing of the polio vaccine and bring back proof that it was not contaminated with HIV.

"The minister of health for Nigeria has told us that he believes by Friday the impasse will be resolved," said head of the WHO polio campaign, David Heymann, in Geneva earlier this week.

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[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]