According to a report, the Health Ministry has decided to make vaccination compulsory for children. ― File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 ― The Health Ministry has decided to make vaccination compulsory for children amid a spike in diseases resulting from the anti-vaccination movement, a report said.

Health deputy director-general (public health) Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman told local daily the New Straits Times (NST) that the ministry has discussed with the relevant departments and agencies to draw up regulations compelling parents or guardians to send their children for the 12 scheduled vaccinations.

“This is a delicate issue,” Dr Lokman was quoted saying in the report published today.

“People are talking about individual rights, but they must give some thought to the rights of the general public and the right to be protected from diseases that are preventable with vaccination, especially among those who are contraindicated for vaccination,” he added.

A Malay Mail Online 2013 report quoted anti-vaccination parents as saying that they chose not to vaccinate their children based on their own research and experience.

The Asia Pacific Paediatric Association (APPA) said in 2013 that sporadic outbreaks of measles could worsen and diseases like polio could be transmitted if parents refuse to have their children vaccinated.

APPA had also discredited claims by the anti-vaccination movement that vaccinations bring more harm than the diseases they prevent due to the chemicals and virus strains used to make the vaccines.

According to the NST report, the Health Ministry proposes to make it compulsory for children in Sabah to receive their first dose of measles vaccine at six months, while children in Sarawak will be mandated to undergo vaccination against Japanese Encephalitis.

Dr Lokman also reportedly said the decision to bring forward the first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to nine months and the second dose to 12 months, from the current 12 months and seven years, was prompted by cases of young children suffering from measles.

The NST report did not specify figures in the purported increase in diseases that are preventable with immunisation, but said the “overwhelming statistics” showed the spike was due to parents who had refused to send their children for vaccination in the last decade.

Dr Lokman was quoted saying that the Health Ministry was also considering making it a prerequisite for children to complete the course of childhood vaccinations before entering school, like in other countries such as the United States.

“We are thinking of doing the same, perhaps, even prior to children attending preschool and nurseries. However, the policy needs to be discussed between the ministries that manage and/or regulate such facilities,” he said.

The Health Ministry said last October that the anti-vaccination movement in Malaysia was primarily based in Kedah and was due to unfounded fears that vaccines contained pig DNA.