KUALA LUMPUR: The Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia (AFPM) today jumped on the bandwagon of medical experts calling for the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) to be made mandatory.
The debate over whether the NIP should be made compulsory in the country has been raging for quite a while.
The AFPM’s argument, however, rests simply on the fact that all children should be protected and that lives should not be endangered through neglect, ignorance or refusal to cooperate on the part of parents or guardians.
In a joint reply to the New Straits Times, AFPM members Associate Prof Dr Navin Kumar Devaraj; and Associate Prof Dr Ching Siew Mooi from the Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, said it has been proven that vaccination prevents deadly diseases such as diphtheria, pertussis and tuberculosis.
“There is no foreseeable risk in making vaccinations mandatory, as children’s health will only improve, ensuring that the future generation is healthy enough to spur the nation’s economic drive,” they said.
The call was made in the wake of a polio case which recently emerged in Sabah — 27 years after it was eradicated from the country.
AFPM said it hopes that all parents or guardians will ensure that their children are not denied their right to proper and complete vaccination.
They said their message also goes out to unimmunised older children and adults, who must get immunised to prevent infection – especially susceptible groups such as the very old and patients with immunocompromised illnesses such as AIDS and cancers.
“Poliomyelitis is a serious life-threatening and debilitating disease that will cause life-long disability to its sufferer.
“We at AFPM are deeply saddened by this news of the first case of polio reported in the country after being polio-free for the past (27) years.
“This means that we as a nation must ensure that all citizens or non-citizens in Malaysia must be vaccinated against this virus which can cause life-long disability.”
AFPM further said that border patrols should be tightened.
“For this period of time, any unimmunised foreign national should be temporarily denied entry into the country, as they may pose a threat to unvaccinated citizens of Malaysia.
“However, as a long-term measure, a more feasible (move) will be ensuring that all parents or guardians vaccinate their children.”
AFPM explained that the Inactivated Polio Vaccine used in the NIP – given in three doses at the 2nd, 3rd and 5th months of life – does not cause either Vaccine Associated Paralytic Poliomyelitis (VAPP) or Circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus (cVDPV) – but that the oral polio dose, which is gradually being replaced by oral polio vaccine, does.
The vaccine, they said, provides immunity against all three types of polio viruses and is highly effective in preventing poliomyelitis.
“Therefore, ensuring all children are immunised is the best prevention that can be taken.”
AFPM said that the Malaysian government has done its part in making vaccination available at the Health Ministry’s 3,500 health clinics and hospitals nationwide.
In addition, over 200 private hospitals and clinics provide similar services. All listed vaccination in the ministry’s Immunisation Schedule are given free of charge, and the list is now included in the “Buku Rekod Kesihatan Bayi dan Kanak-Kanak” for easy reference.
Malaysia’s last polio case was in 1992, before the country was declared polio-free in 2000, together with other Western Pacific region countries.
On Oct 26, a 3-month-old baby developed fever and paralysis, which was later confirmed to be due to poliovirus, following lab tests conducted by the World Health Organisation’s Regional Polio Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia, on Dec 6.
Following this, the likes of the Malaysian Health Association, Immunise4life, paediatricians and the Malaysian Paediatric Association have called for the NIP to be made mandatory.
The National Immunisation Programme was established in the 1950s. It is a free service provided by the Health Ministry to protect children against dangerous infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, haemophilus influenza type B, measles, mumps, rubella and the human papilloma virus.