'Dr Google' among causes for recent vaccine chaos - Dr Hilmi

The health ministry has identified the emergence of one too many 'Dr Google' as among the cause for the recent vaccine chaos in the country.

Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said some made their own conclusions based on contents they had read in the internet, without obtaining expert opinion from the health specialists.

"They read in the internet and that's it, they follow whatever is written there. The rejection (of vaccine) is on the uptrend, they even manage to convince many others to follow them.

"Many reasons are given, including side effects and religious reasons as well. I have said many times and even replied in Parliament that the vaccine which the health ministry uses has no porcine DNA," he said in a statement here today.

Dr Hilmi added the vaccines had undergone many clinical trials by experts and it would not be used in Malaysia if proven unsafe.

He said the ministry was in the process of engaging with the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) to write a sermon for Friday prayers, and other relevant agencies including the women, family and community development ministry to tackle the issue.

As of June 29, the ministry recorded five deaths out of 13 confirmed diphtheria cases nationwide.

On a media report urging to make it mandatory that only female doctors treat female patients, Dr Hilmi said it might apply to elective cases but not during emergencies as it would take time for the country to achieve an adequate number of female Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O & G) specialists.

"There are 172 female and 134 male O & G specialists nationwide, as of December 2015, whereby last year alone, 15 of them left government service for greener pastures. We have increased the number of Masters scholarships to 1,000 each year since last year.

"This issue is not new and is being raised now and then by certain groups," he said.