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 The deaths of five children in June from diphtheria, a disease that
can be prevented by vaccines, provoked an outcry among doctors and
spurred calls for an edict by religious authorities to compel Muslim
families to immunize children.
"Our concern is, if it's left uncontrolled, in the long-term we
might see a significant effect on the nation as a whole," Health
Minister S. Subramaniam told Reuters in an interview.
Although Muslim religious authorities have waived the stringent
halal requirement if suitable vaccines are not available, concerns
have redoubled recently that some may contain substances such as pig
DNA, forbidden by Islam.
Pediatrician Musa Mohamad Nordin said there was a lot of
misinformation in Malaysia's Muslim community, mostly ethnic Malays
who form 61 percent of a population of about 30 million that
includes substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
"I'm upset, and also saddened, that some religious teachers are
spreading rumors that vaccines contain a composition that is not
permissible by Islamic jurisprudence," added Musa, a member of
Malaysia's Federation of Islamic Medical Associations.
Only a few families have rejected vaccinations, but the number has
more than doubled in the past three years to reach 1,541 in 2015,
Subramaniam said, which is reflected in a rise in
vaccine-preventable diseases, from diphtheria to measles.
As with anti-vaccination movements elsewhere, many Malaysians who
refuse vaccinations worry about potential side effects or efficacy,
Subramaniam said. It is not clear what provoked the suspicions over
pig DNA.
But three-quarters of the parents who rejected immunization last
year in the northern state of Kedah, which has the highest rates of
vaccine refusal in Malaysia, cited doubts over their halal status, a
survey showed.
Malaysia's highest Islamic body, the National Fatwa Council, has
ruled vaccination permissible under Islamic law, even allowing
vaccines with non-halal components, in the absence of halal
alternatives.
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The council has not yet decided on an edict of mandatory
vaccinations for Muslims, Federal Territory Mufti Zulkifli Mohamad
Al-Bakri said in an interview.
"On the whole, we find that vaccines have been very beneficial to
society," Zulkifli added.
'PARENTS' RIGHTS'
Last Sunday, parents at a vaccination forum on the outskirts of
Kuala Lumpur, the capital, recounted the side effects their children
suffered.
Parents should have the right to refuse vaccination, said
alternative medicine practitioner Arif Faizal, 36.
"There is no law compelling mandatory vaccines, and even on the
global level, very few countries support such a move," he told
Reuters.
Others felt vaccinations were essential, however.
"As Muslim parents, we have a responsibility to protect our
children," said Wan Normaniza Wan Hasan, a teacher and mother of
six.
(Editing by Praveen Menon and Clarence Fernandez)
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