IPOH: The Health Ministry is targeting a vaccination rate of 95 per cent for effective control vaccine-preventable diseases such as diphtheria and neonatal tetanus, Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said.
He said the percentage of children getting their first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) by their fifth birthday has reached the target but not for the vaccination given to children nine-months-old and above which is now only at 89 per cent.
“This is not a safe phase should we want to prevent measles as we need to reach 95 per cent in order to control any outbreaks. Unfortunately, some parents have largely been influenced by anti-vaccination groups.
“I would like to stress here that from the religion and scientific perspectives, vaccines have been proven to be effective and can be used,” he said at a press conference after launching the ‘Let’s Quash Dengue’ programme at the Greentown Health Clinic, here, today.
Asked if there are any actions that would be taken against anti-vaccination groups, Dr Lee said there were some quarters who told the ministry to enforce mandatory vaccinations just like in France.
“We have seen a country like France tightening their vaccination laws but we should know that problems also arise from that. We have also considered it but we have no plans to make it compulsory.
“Once we want to run such enforcement, some parents might play with the religion issue and this is hard to control as it is their beliefs. What we can do is to give an explanation to the parents on the facilities that we have to encourage them to vaccinate their children.
“Should they reject vaccination, they will be referred to a specialist for further explanation. With such efforts, we hope we can help parents who are against vaccinations,” he said, adding that immunisation was important to prevent diseases which can lead to unnecessary illnesses, disabilities and deaths among children.
On the death of the two-year-old boy in Johor Baru on Thursday believed to have been due to diphtheria infection, Dr Lee said the incident was regrettable.
“Some people said the boy was never given any immunisation since birth and this is regrettable as diphtheria can be prevented through vaccination,” he added.