Assurance: ‘Polio vaccines not un-Islamic’

"A ‘number of renowned Islamic scholars’ had given fatwas in favour of polio drops," says Azad.

LAHORE:

The khateeb of Badshahi Masjid, Maulana Abdul Khubair Azad, on Friday urged the people to get their children vaccinated against polio, saying that no ‘un-Islamic’ substances had been used to manufacture the vaccination drops.

Azad said that a ‘number of renowned Islamic scholars’ had given fatwas in favour of polio drops. The seminar on polio awareness was organised by the city government and started after Friday prayers. District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal also addressed the seminar. He asked people to get their children vaccinated against the eight preventable diseases identified by the Extended Programme on Immunisation.

He said that a vaccination card had now been made mandatory before birth certificates could be issued and their children could be admitted in schools.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2013.