Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Professor Qibla Ayaz has urged Islamic scholars to assist the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other organisations in eliminating polio from the country, a local media outlet reported on Sunday.
Ayaz emphasised that diseases are affecting lives and economic health of the country.
He also appreciated efforts by scholars to control the number of vaccination refusal cases.
He thought it unfortunate that some scholars had declared polio vaccinations as haraam in 2001-02 but added that tests conducted by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government at the time showed nothing haraam was in the vaccines. Furthermore, allegations that the vaccines affected the male reproductive system were also proved incorrect.
The vaccination refusal rates declined significantly after the tests, he said.
However, he explained that many parents are still refusing to vaccinate their children.
