In late September, All Africa.com reported that a religious group in Botswana were preparing to resist the government's national measles immunization and Vitamin-A campaign aimed a children in the country. The resistance comes from some members of the Johane Church of God (the Zezuru). Raphael Panganayi said that his followers would resist the vaccination program, saying that it would mean breaking their church rules. "I will never, under any circumstances, have my children immunised because doing so would be committing a sin. Why should I have them vaccinated when our church teaches us that the use of any kind of medicine is wrong?"
The threatened resistance seems to have been carried out. On Monday, Daily News Online reported that since the start of the immunization campaign, which was launched by Botswana's Health Minister Sheila Tlou on October 3, a majority of Bazezuru were reluctant to take their children for immunization.
