Police

Police sit on cases of vaccine-related deaths

News - National | 2016-11-06

by Staff Reporter http://www.namibian.com.na

MORE than 13 cases of deaths related to vaccines administered to children dating from 2007 which were submitted to the police for inquests, are yet to be investigated.

This is despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) stating early last month that the deaths are not related to the vaccines. The WHO based their findings on three babies whose conditions they investigated and cleared either as coincidence, or due to pre-existing medical conditions. Prosecutor general Martha Imalwa yesterday told The Namibian that she has not yet recieved any of the dockets as they are first supposed to be investigated by the police, brought before the magistrate's court through a prosecutor and only submitted to her office once investigations are complete.

The Namibian obtained a list of the cases, most of whom were from Windhoek and Oshakati, and examined by chief forensic medical officer of the state forensic mortuary services, Dr Yury Vasin.

One such case was that of baby Shareedon Faith Harases, whose death was attributed to the six and 12-week vaccinations and the measles/rubella vaccinations this year. 

Harases' mother Julien Mouers, who was one of the seven parents who approached the Legal Assistance Centre for legal advice to sue the ministry of health, said she was informed by a committee from the health ministry that her daughter's death was not due to a vaccine but due to a pre-existing condition, and was promised that they would release a report to prove this. 

However, Mouers said the health ministry had failed to show her the report on which the conclusions on the cause of her child's death were based.

“I'm still waiting to see that report to prove that my daughter's death was not as a result of the vaccine,” she said, adding that her daughter also had cerebral palsy. 

“I need to see the report and find closure for my baby's death. I do not want the investigation to be done by this government; I want an independent investigation. They should give me the report so that I see if my daughter's death was not vaccine-related so that I can move on,” she stated.

Mouers added that she had enquired from the ministry of health's manager of the extended programme of immunsation, Nicholaus Shapumbwa, about the report, but received no answer. Shapumbwa did not reply to calls or messages sent to him yesterday.

Although Harases' case was not investigated by the WHO, an investigation into her death has been opened at the Katutura Police Station.

Mouers said she approached the Khomas regional police crime investigations coordinator, deputy commissioner, Sylvanus Nghishidimbwa, on Friday about the progress on the investigation, but was told the investigations are still incomplete.

Nghishidimbwa yesterday told The Namibian that he informed Mouers that they could not complete the investigations because “there are a few outstanding things”. He said there were a number of investigations related to vaccines, but could not say how many they were.

Meanwhile, another mother, Angelina Veronica Lazarus from Elondo in the Omusati region, told The Namibian yesterday that her six-week-old baby, Paulus Selinus Amadhila, died after a dose of vaccine on 9 May at the Okahao Clinic, although the death certificate states that her baby died of suffocation. 

She said she does not understand how her baby could have died from suffocation hours after the vaccine was administered. 

“He was shaking, and he refused to be breastfed. The next day at around 16h00, he died, and his mouth turned dark,” she explained. 

Lazarus also said her baby was the second one to die after a vaccination because when his body was taken to the mortuary, there was another baby who had died following a vaccination.