July 07, 2006	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 10, 1427

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PESHAWAR, July 6: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the World Health Organisation and federal and provincial health secretaries in a writ petition seeking closure of the polio eradication programme in the country because it affected the human reproductive system.

Ghulam Nabi, an advocate of the high court, has filed the petition claiming that scientists had found that the polio vaccine contained a harmful toxic – Estrogen – which had a direct effect on the human reproductive system.

He called for suspending the anti-polio programme till disposal of the petition.

A bench of the high court, comprising Justice Fazlur Rehman Khan and Justice Jehanzeb Rahim, issued the notice to the WHO through Dr Ibraham, head of the NWFP WHO polio eradication initiative, federation of Pakistan through the federal health secretary and health secretaries of the four provinces. The request for suspending the programme will be heard next week.

The petitioner’s counsel said the supply of what he called contaminated vaccine not only was against articles 4, 9 and 35 of the constitution which guaranteed protection of life and family but also violated the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, etc.

He wondered why Estrogen, which had nothing to do with eradication of polio, was included in the vaccine.