KUALA LUMPUR: “Love is not love until you prove it. You can do that by getting them vaccinated.”
These words to live by are from one of Malaysia’s poliomyelitis survivors, Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, 74, who constantly advocates and calls for the public, especially parents, to vaccinate their children.
“Vaccinate your children as a sign of true love. That’s also to show you also care for the community.”
Dr Sheikh Omar said polio vaccines had long been around and there should be no excuse to not get everyone vaccinated.
“Since the 1950s, you already have oral and injectable vaccines for polio. And the good news is the vaccines are proven to be almost 100 per cent effective!
“With vaccination, there will be more people immunised, and sooner or later, the virus will have nowhere to go and will disappear at some point,” he said in a phone interview with the New Straits Times.
“This will benefit the family and community. Your children and those of others will not become a supplier or carrier of the virus.
“On the other hand, if your children are not vaccinated, they may get the disease, which may be asymptomatic and hard to detect.
“And before we know it, the infection can start, possibly in school, and the numbers will multiply in no time.
“You are selfish and anti-social if you choose not to vaccinate your children. That shows you don’t care about the children and the community. And yet you are living within the community.
“An unvaccinated kid is a walking threat to others. There is always the possibility of ‘seeding’.
“You are seeding the community with viruses. And this is why vaccination is very, very important. We want as many people to get vaccinated as possible, so that there are no new virus breakouts.
“Malaysia was declared polio-free in 2000. However, after almost three decades, it is making a comeback following the case in Tuaran, Sabah, where a baby boy tested positive for polio.
“Apparently, in that community, only 10 per cent of the children have been vaccinated. This leaves the other 90 per cent fully susceptible to the virus.”
Dr Sheikh Omar said he was not aware that he had polio until he entered Standard 6.
“Polio and the importance of vaccination was not publicised much then because the vaccine was found only in the 1950s.
“One day, I was reading about the disease in an encyclopaedia.
“From there, I sensed that I had the symptoms. A doctor confirmed that I had poliomyelitis. Later on, I was diagnosed with scoliosis.
“It is an abnormality that involves wasting of the muscle, where the abnormal limb is shorter than the other. The condition will cause the patient’s pelvic bones to tilt.
“My right leg is one inch shorter than my left, and because of that, the vertebrae is bent.
“I have been walking with a limp since then.”
Initially, he said, he always felt sorry about his medical condition, but his mother was a tower of strength.
“She told me every single day to be patient and taught me early on about gratitude and attitude.
“She always told me to be grateful that I was still able to walk.
“And I took her advice and focused on my academic strengths. I was awarded a scholarship to study in Australia after finishing my STPM (Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia).
“And I have not cried since then.”