MPs seek joint test on disputed tetanus vaccine

A parliamentary committee has ordered a joint testing of the tetanus vaccine by the Catholic church bishops and the Health ministry to determine whether it is laced with Beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (b-HCG) hormone used for family planning.

The parliamentary Committee on Health said the laboratory tests should be done by an independent expert with the help of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) following differing results by both the ministry and the Catholic bishops.

The committee acting chairman and Endebess MP Robert Pukose said there is a need for thorough investigations to determine whether doctors from the Ministry and those for the bishops carried out wrong tests.

The MP said the committee could not suspend the exercise from continuing as it is already concluded. “The committee feels that somebody must take responsibility over what happened. That is why we are ordering that joint testing be carried out by an independent expert to determine the truth of the matter,” he said.

Committee members present demanded that the bishops and the ministry engage each other to have the matter resolved. Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa said the bishops should be given security, after claims of being threatened over their stand.

Bomet MP Cecilia Ng’etich and his Keiyo North counterpart James Murgor called for the postponement of the exercise to allow joint testing to be done. The decision of the committee came after the bishops, who had appeared before them, said the laboratory test carried out by the churchwere1 positive for the HCG-hormone.

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Catholic Health Commission of Kenya chairman and Embu Bishop Paul Kariuki said laboratory tests carried out in various research institutions and health facilities all turned positive.

“When administered as a vaccine on a non pregnant woman, this Beta HCG sub-unit combined with tetanus toxoid develops antibodies against the tetanus and HCG so that if a woman’s ovum is fertilised, her own natural HCG will be destroyed rendering her permanently infertile,” said Bishop Kariuki.