MichiganRadio

MSU Researchers try to stem polio in Nigeria ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - Folu Ogundimu is an associate professor of journalism at MSU. He's been studying how the media can be used to improve the health of people living in northern Nigeria for more than 20 years.

He says local health officials have been stymied by local rumors that the polio vaccine is a western plot to sterilize Muslim women or spread the AIDS virus.

"There is a great deal of suspicion in these communities as to the use of adoption of western medical approaches especially those dealing with vaccines," he said.

According to the book, The Politics of Polio in Northern Nigeria that region has the highest number of confirmed polio cases in the world since 2008 and has been the source of many outbreaks in west Africa.
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