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No Haj without polio drops: Saudis
 LUCKNOW: Saudi Arabias king Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud might succeed where Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan has failed. A communication to the ministry of external affairs from Saudi monarchs Haj minister Al Farsi seeks assurance that all pilgrims from India are innoculated against polio before boarding their flights for Mecca.
Now, with September 15 deadline for registering for Haj round the corner, maulvis, maulanas and other hajis might want to queue up before polio booths in each tehsil, take the drops, and procure medical certificate to prove they are vaccinated. But not all of them are pleased: some clergymen have vowed to lodge official protest against the "unreasonable demand". Though saddled with the sudden additional burden of vaccinating nearly 30,000 adults, there is a buzz of excitement among officials in UPs health department. For, it could well end the prevalent misconception among large sections of UP Muslims that polio drops are a conspiracy against them to render them infertile. An official communique dated August 22 from Haj Committee of India to UP Haj Committee categorically lays down that "every pilgrim must be in possession of a medical certificate indicating that he or she has taken the oral polio dose before obtaining visa". The visa for Haj, says the letter signed by committees executive officer A M Mukaddam, would only be issued to those who have vaccination certificates with their passports. Incidentally, the drops will be repeated once the pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia. According to Syed Afaq Khan, former secretary of state Haj comittee, this demand had come up last year as well. But then, it wasnt a precondition for the issuance of visa. The demand, Khan recalled, "had led to much resentment among pilgrims. Some of them created scenes at polio booths which the committee had set up at the airport". This year, the Haj committee of India tried to reason with the Saudis over the futility of such an exercise, according to its CEO Ovais Ahmed. Talking to TOI on phone from Mumbai, Ahmed said that minister of state for external affairs E Ahmad, who led a delegation to Saudi Arabia in May, tried to convince his Saudi counterpart to do away with the condition as polio virus affected only children. The matter came up for discussion on July 22 between a meeting of ministries of external affairs, health and Haj committee with World Health Organisation. "WHO officials supported the Saudi demand, overruling all our objections," Ovais said. Government officials are already chalking out an extensive vaccination programme. "This could mean administration of polio drops at night because Ramzan begins on September 13 and they will turn up for drops only after roza," said a UPHC functionary. Though neck deep in work for the next round of polio drops on November 11, health officials arent complaining. Posted by: john frum 2007-09-12 |
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