In an effort to prevent the spread of major childhood diseases among refugee children, MERCY Malaysia in close cooperation with three other parties, organised a vaccination programme for the children of asylum seekers from Myanmar on 11 July 2010.

Over 100 children, accompanied by their parents, attended the vaccination programme, funded by the Czech Republic, at a school for refugees – managed by the Tzu Chi Foundation – in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

One of the Rohingya Community support workers Umar Faruq managing the crowd waiting for the vaccinations.

“As our earlier primary healthcare programmes for vulnerable communities were well-received by them, we are continuing our partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Czech Republic by offering vaccination programmes to stateless and marginalized communities,” said MERCY Malaysia Executive Director, En Zairulshahfuddin Zainal Abidin.

Providing health services to children in need – irrespective of race, religion, culture or boundary, is something that MERCY Malaysia does as an impartial organization, which is also in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that Malaysia has ratified in 1995.

For the programme, MERCY Malaysia staff worked closely with its volunteers and social workers from the UNHCR.

Preliminary briefings were also conducted for the parents of participating children prior to the actual programme.

“It is important for us to engage and inform the parents about the vaccination programme beforehand so that we can answer any concerns that parents may have, and inform them of any side effects to be expected after getting vaccinated,” said MERCY Malaysia Programme Officer, Jessica Wong, in charge of the vaccination programme.

MERCY Malaysia volunteer nurse, Norakmal (second from left) administering the vaccines for patients at the school for refugees in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

On 8 August a follow-up programme was held at the same venue in Ampang where 92 children - 57 new and 35 follow-up cases registered.  In the third session held on 19 September, 84 children - 42 new and 42 follow-up cases were attended to.

Follow-up sessions with the community will continue to run until April 2011 to ensure that the refugee children receive a complete set of immunisation. The vaccination included in the programme are against routine childhood diseases, including Tuberculosis, Polio, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Measles, Rubella, Haemophilus Influenza B,  and Hepatitis B.

As part of our commitment to transparency, our beneficiaries have the right to give feedback or complain if any of the services are unsatisfactory.