G25 produces video to allay vaccination fears

Group: People need to be educated

KUALA LUMPUR: The G25 group of prominent Malays has launched videos to engage anti-vaccination groups following concerns that some parents are not having their children vaccinated.

Tan Sri Dr Yahya Awang, co-founder of the group, said cases of diphtheria emerged last year, which was a concern because Malaysia had been free of the disease for years.

“Some children were not vaccinated against diphtheria. We have not seen diphtheria cases for many years.

“We are concerned that there is a resurgence of certain diseases,” said the former head and medical director of the National Heart Institute, during the launch of the two G25 videos, titled What is vaccination? and Are vaccines haram or cause autism?, at the Royal Lake Club yesterday.

There were 28 diphtheria cases, including five deaths related to the disease in Malaysia last year.

Dr Yahya expressed concern that the number of parents rejecting vaccination was increasing and G25 wanted to play its part to address the issue.

During a Q&A session, Family Health Development Division senior principal assistant director Dr Rozita Abdul Rahman said the number of people rejecting vaccination increased from 637 to 1,603.

“From January to June this year, there were more than 800 such cases,” she said.

The reasons for people rejecting vaccina- tion were safety concerns and whether the vaccine was halal, with some opting for homeopathy treatment instead, she said.

While conservative states such as Kelantan and Terengganu were doing fine with vaccination, cases of rejection in Selangor was on the rise, she said, adding that there was no demarcation between urban and rural folk.

Health Ministry data showed that the majority of vaccine refusals were in Kedah, Perak and Selangor, said Dr Rozita.

She added that the ministry was working closely with religious authorities to educate the public.

Former Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said the problem must be nipped in the bud.

“It is not just a Malaysia problem but a global problem. In some Muslim countries such as Somalia and Pakistan, there is an upsurge of previously unheard-of polio cases,” he said.

This was because the message was sent by naysayers who deemed vaccination “haram” and harmful, he said.

“In certain areas where access to information is not available, people tend to believe it,” he said.

Former Family Health Development Division director Dr Narimah Awin said there were only three countries that still had polio (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria) and now there was a fourth – Syria, due to the war.