Measles is a highly contagious disease that is caused by the measles virus. Ensuring that we do not contract this disease, the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination was introduced to help us prevent the disease. However, lately, people have been opting to skip this vaccination simply because they don’t trust it anymore.
However, this refusal to vaccinate themselves and/or their kids have led to the rise in measles cases all over Malaysia.
NST reported that the health ministry is worried over the hike in the number of measles cases by 22.3 per cent compared to the first five months last year (2017).
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah took to Facebook to share the concerning information.
Source: NST
He wrote,
“Until May 31 this year, there are 724 cases of measles nationwide compared to 592 cases for the same period last year.”
“For the period between September 2017 and February 2018, Malaysia ranks 10th place for countries with the highest number of measles cases after the Philippines and China.”
Source: Web MD
In 2016, Dr Noor Hashim shared that “the MMR immunisation coverage on 12-month-old babies stood at 94.37 per cent and it dropped to 92.08 per cent in 2017.” That’s a significant drop!
However, he later noted that 2017 data was still at its initial state.
“We need more than 95 per cent immunisation coverage to provide herd immunity for measles.”
Source: Blog SMK Sg Choh
On a brighter note, Dr Noor Hisham said that there was a drop of 38.1 per cent (16,704 cases) in the number of dengue cases between January and 9 June 2018. That’s good news!
Besides that, the number of fatalities caused by dengue has also decreased by 54.5 per cent (55 cases) this year (2018).
Source: Egypt Today
He then continued,
“From January to 9 June last year (2018), there were 43,807 cases with 101 fatalities compared to 27,103 cases with 46 fatalities for the same period this year.”
Nevertheless, he noted that there would be an increase in the number of dengue cases after the Raya celebrations have ceased. This prediction is based on previous years’ trends.
He shared that one of the main factors of the possible rise in dengue is due to “people movement”.
Source: Malaysian Hollywood 2.0
On a different matter, based on the 2018 Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) report, Malaysia has scored an index value of 66 for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2016-2030, according to Dr Noor Hisham.
“For Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the World Health Organisation in its write-up titled- Malaysia: UHC and SDG Profile 2018 – has stated that Malaysia scored 70 out of the 100 target for 2017, of which the highest score in the West Pacific region is 80 for Australia, Brunei, Japan and Singapore,” he shared.
Source: Hisham Abdullah
So, to ensure that our citizens’ health improves, Dr Noor Hisham noted that the health authorities are doing whatever necessary to increase the awareness on “non-communicable disease and mental health”.
It’s great that the authorities are finally paying attention to issues that matter; hopefully, they will succeed in all of their attempts.
That said, we too have to play an active role in ensuring the quality of our health. Therefore, as suggested by medical experts, we shouldn’t deny the MMR vaccination as it serves as prevention of the disease and we should also stay vigilant so we don’t contract the dengue fever since it’s predicted to see a rise after Raya.
Stay safe and healthy, guys!
Also read: Those Travelling to Japan and Taiwan Urged to Get Vaccinated Following Measles Outbreak
