At an event launching the eastern state’s Cancer Awareness Day yesterday, Terengganu’s health director, Dr. Mohd Jusoh, told the crowds that 2018 saw an increase of parents forgoing vaccines. Two-hundred and thirty-one babies went without inoculations, a increase from 191 that were recorded only the year before.
Explaining that all but three of the babies who came in to the state’s health clinics were Malay, most refused the vaccines when offered by doctors at their baby’s check-up.
When pressed further as to why they did not want to vaccinate their children, the mothers explain that they were concerned over the halal status and safety of the vaccines, despite efforts from the Ministry of Health to clarify both matters.
Yesterday, the Health Minister Dr Dzulfefly Ahmad said that his department would be putting forth a proposal that would make vaccinations compulsory, without the option for parents to refuse.
Health advocates weighed in on the issue this morning, with many calling for unvaccinated children to not be allowed to enroll in schools, as they are a danger to other children.
Malaysian Islamic Doctors Association (PERDIM) president, Dr Ahmad Shukri Ismail, said it was time for immunizations to be required in order for children to enroll in school. Students could be at risk from deadly diseases and “an epidemic might occur if not handled properly.”
Speaking to Bernama, he highlighted that diseases like diphtheria were not only serious, and life-threatening, but they were also easily passed between individuals. A recent spate of cases among young children in Johor has brought the issue once again to the forefront, with one of the children dying of the preventable disease.
Shukri maintains that awareness and education among parents is paramount in achieving widespread immunity.
