Kenya: Government launches inquiry after Church protests at hidden sterilization program

The Ministry of Health of Kenya has established a Commission of Inquiry into the controversial campaign of vaccination against tetanus, which the Catholic Church affirms has discovered a program of forced sterilization of women.

The Secretary for Health, James Macharia, said that the commission will address the objections raised by the Church. It is expected that representatives of the Episcopal Conference and the Kenya Catholic Doctors' Association (KCDA) will take part in the inquiry body.

According to the Bishops, laboratory tests carried out at the request of the Church have found that the tetanus vaccine used in the March 2014 campaign contained Beta subunit HCG. This substance combined with the tetanus vaccine, actually becomes a vaccine against pregnancy. A similar methodology was used in previous tetanus campaigns in the Philippines, Nicaragua and Mexico.

Dr Stephen Karanja, President of KCDA, in an interview with the Catholic agency CISA in Nairobi, said that the Catholic Church in Kenya is the second body, after the State to provide medical assistance to the population, and has participated in other vaccination campaigns, such as that against polio.

"What is immoral and evil is that the tetanus laced with HCG was given as a fertility regulating vaccine without disclosing its contraceptive effect to the girls and mothers," said Dr Wahome Ngare, a member of the KCDA.

Source: Fides/KCDA