No vaccine, no school - Health advocates

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- No vaccine, no school for children whose parents refuse to allow them to be vaccinated, which can result in death as in a recent case, according to advice from health advocates.

The suggestion was among their calls  following the Health Ministry’s plans to present proposals and policies so that vaccination and immunisation are made compulsory.

 Malaysian Islamic Doctors Association (PERDIM) president, Datuk Dr Ahmad Shukri Ismail, said it was time for immunisation vaccine to be made compulsory before children start schooling because children could be at risk from deadly diseases and an epidermic might occur if not handled properly.

“Immunisation vaccines are essential and should be made mandatory. It is serious because diseases such as diphtheria  is a serious and life-threatening infectious disease which can be passed on easily between people,” he told Bernama.

He was commenting on a statement by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad yesterday that his department would present proposals and policies for immunisation vaccines to be made compulsory.

According to him, the ministry has received strong ‘pressure’ from various quarters so that the government considers making immunisation vaccines compulsory following the reluctance of parents to allow their children from being vaccinated, causing children to be exposed to deadly diseases.

Currently, it is not compulsory or mandatory for children to be vaccinated before admission to school  and it is up to the school to conduct further examination or verification.

Commenting on this, Dr Ahmad Shukri said that, if parents are still stubborn and want to continue sending their children to school even without taking the vaccine, the school can issue a letter of authorisation to health centres to vaccinate their children.

Meanwhile, Malaysia I-MEDIC deputy president, Prof Dr Azizi Ayob, said the proposal to require children enrolling in school to produce immunisation records was good because it can prevent them from becoming agents of preventable diseases.

In fact, he who is also the author of ‘ Vaksin : Antara Babi, Yahudi & Konspirasi’, said some private schools have required the relevant criteria but it is no longer practiced in government schools.

He also said there was a need to create laws for parents to comply with the immunisation schedule in the country so that  ‘herd immunity’ is achieved, that is 95 per cent of the community is vaccinated.

“We cannot ban the anti-vaccine groups because there is no law. Most of them communicate through social media. What can be done is to create awareness about the importance of vaccine jabs,” he said.

It was reported that, five more children suspected with diphtheria are now in the paediatric isolation ward of Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baharu and all the children, including three girls, aged below four years, tested positive for diphtheria following the screening of 52 individuals by the State Health Department.

One of the victim is the older sister of a two-year-old boy who died of suspected diphtheria infection on Tuesday.

-- BERNAMA