In commenting on the Perak Health Department’s plans to take parents who do not vaccinate their children to court, nasyid singer Suhaimi Saad, who does not subscribe to vaccination, said there were alternatives to vaccination.

He told FMT that just because some parents chose not to vaccinate their children, it did not mean they did not care for their children or left everything in God’s hands. It could be due to the availability of alternative treatments.

“I respect the views of the Perak Health Department, but even the Ministry of Health or National Fatwa Council does not make it mandatory for vaccination, barring a health crisis.”

He said both the ministry and council were of the view that vaccination is a must, but did not enforce the need for vaccination.

Thus, he said the Perak Health Department’s plans were unfair as it took away a parent’s right to decide.

He added that before the department penalised parents, it should also enforce vaccination of all members of the public as they could also be carriers of diseases.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Medical Association President Dr John Chew felt the Perak Health Department’s plan must be a very desperate effort to control an imminently controllable infection.

“If the situation warrants, we will support it,” he told FMT.

Earlier, it was reported that the Perak Health Department would take legal action against parents should their unvaccinated children contract diseases which could have been prevented with vaccination.

The department’s director Dr Juita Ghazalie said the department was looking at this option following deaths from diphtheria and increases in communicable diseases such as measles.

She said Perak was probably the first state to take such a strong stand and hoped other states would consider taking similar action.