PETALING JAYA: Despite concerns over a potential rise in infectious disease cases worldwide – fuelled by moves in some countries to roll back on vaccination mandates – Malaysians have no reason to panic, as the nation’s health system is well-prepared to respond.
Universiti Teknologi Mara Faculty of Medicine public health medicine specialist and lecturer Dr Zahir Izuan Azhar said even as cases of measles climb globally, Malaysia’s public health infrastructure provides strong protection.
“The Health Ministry has a good surveillance system, a fast-response public health team, and well-established preparedness measures to tackle vaccine-preventable disease threats,” he told theSun via WhatsApp.
His comments followed news that Florida could become the first state in the US to eliminate all vaccine mandates, including requirements for children to be immunised against diseases such as polio before entering public schools.
Zahir said Malaysia could face some risk if exemptions of this kind become more common in high-travel countries like the US.
“For example, if we look at measles, the national immunisation coverage of 95% in 2024 is high, but only 62% of districts achieved coverage above 95%. In districts where herd immunity is strong, a single imported case may cause only a small chain of infections that can be controlled. But in under-vaccinated populations, one imported case can lead to many secondary cases quickly and large outbreaks can occur within two or three weeks,” he explained.
Still, Zahir stressed that Malaysia is fully equipped to handle such challenges, highlighting the ministry’s comprehensive measures and preparations against infectious diseases.
He added that the ministry is currently carrying out a free supplementary immunisation programme for measles and rubella nationwide, targeting children aged six to 59 months (4.9 years), to raise herd immunity to 95%.
“A Malaysian population with stronger herd immunity will definitely be less susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases brought in from abroad,” he said.
The Health Ministry launched the nationwide measles-rubella vaccination campaign on Aug 4 and it will run until Oct 12 for children born between Aug 1, 2020 and Jan 31, 2025.
The move comes in response to a surge in infections and reported deaths among unvaccinated children, with measles cases nearly doubling in 2024 and vaccination rates remaining low in some areas.
The ministry said the campaign is designed to boost herd immunity and support Malaysia’s target of eliminating measles by 2030. The dose is available at all government health clinics.
