More child abuse from the religion of the perpetually insulted

In Java, mothers are deciding not to have their kids vaccinated against diphtheria because it is haram, or forbidden in Islam. They are afraid that they might incur the wrath of Allah if they let their children be protected against an easily preventable disease.

Since 610AD Islam has been practicing child abuse, this is just an extension of 1400 years of backward thinking and blind acceptance of a dogma detrimental to life-forms everywhere.

From Asia News Network October 15 by Elly Burhaini Faizel

Religious beliefs hinder vaccination in E. Java

The government has blamed parents’ reluctance to get their children vaccinated for the recent diphtheria outbreak in East Java, with many religious communities in the province still questioning whether the anti diphtheritic vaccine is halal, or allowed according toIslam. Edi Purwinarto, assistant for people’s welfare affairs at the East Java provincialadministration, said on Friday that local communities living in some small areas in the province were still somewhat reluctant to give their newborns a complete basic vaccination. "Some parents resist getting their children vaccinated due to a number of reasons. Some of them are just worried that vaccination will hurt their children or cause a fever but in some areas people worry that the vaccines are not halal," Edi told The Jakarta Post. East Java Governor Soekarwo declared an extraordinary situation (KLB) on Sunday fordiphtheria in all parts of the province. The provincial administration said that as of Oct. 14, diphtheria incidents had reached 352 cases with 11 deaths, not 328 deaths as reported earlier by several media outlets. Diphtheria is a deadly upper respiratory-tract illness caused by Corynebacteriumdiphtheriae, it can be prevented by administering DPT vaccination to newborns. Mass diphtheria vaccination is being carried out in several outbreak regions, especially in 11 regencies and municipalities; Bangkalan, Banyuwangi, Blitar, Gresik, Mojokerto, Pamekasan, Pasuruan, Sampang, Sidoarjo, Sumenep and Surabaya. Together with religious leaders, Edi said, the local government was working to change existing perceptions and attitudes toward vaccines. "It’s not easy to overcome parental resistance to immunization since it is closely related to religious perceptions. Therefore, we work with religious organizations to teach parents about the importance of getting their children vaccinated," said Edi mentioning Muslimat NU and Aisyiyah of Muhammadiyah as the government’s counterparts in the dialog. Read it all