KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) believes that the government's policy of requiring undocumented migrants to be reported to the authorities when they attend Covid-19 inoculation will be a tremendous setback to nationwide vaccination efforts.
MMA president Dr Koh Kar Chai said that the directive requiring healthcare workers to report undocumented workers to law enforcement authorities would discourage them from vaccination.
"We are dismayed to hear the Home Minister (Datuk Seri) Hamzah Zainudin say that the government requires healthcare workers to notify security forces if undocumented migrants show up at health facilities and vaccination centres (PPVs)."
"This will definitely create a setback in our efforts to vaccinate everyone in the community," he said in a press statement press today.
Dr Koh said that Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, during his tenure in the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, had said that the guidelines to encourage the undocumented to come forward for their vaccination had been approved under the principle that no one would be safe until everyone was covered.
"The guidelines were implemented while taking into consideration the various legislation in force at that time.
"Individuals not already registered with MySejahtera were supposed to undergo a process of documentation to enable them to be registered.
"However, the mention that health service providers are to inform security forces about the presence of undocumented migrants at health and vaccination centres will send a wrong message to the undocumented migrants who are yet to be vaccinated."
Hamzah, in a recent written parliamentary reply, was quoted as saying that healthcare workers are required to notify law enforcement forces if undocumented migrants show up at health facilities and PPVs.
He said this was among the vaccination standard operating procedures (SOP) decided by the cabinet for the vaccination programme of undocumented migrants.
Hamzah said this was decided by the Cabinet on July 30 as part of the vaccination SOP for the group.
"The government, among others, agreed that information related to undocumented migrants should be documented and recorded according to the general circular from the director-general of Health."
"This circular stipulates the duty of health service providers to inform security authorities about the presence of undocumented migrants at health premises," he said,while addressing questions from Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (Pakatan Harapan-Beruas).
Hamzah added that strategic cooperation between several government agencies and private centres is important to encourage undocumented migrants to register voluntarily for vaccination.