HULU SELANGOR, July 14 — Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the Health Ministry was currently evaluating data obtained for the Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine, announced by the French pharmaceutical company recently. 

“Studies have shown a 60 per cent effectiveness against all four common dengue virus serotypes,” Subramaniam said.

However, he said, the vaccine would have to achieve a much higher rate of effectiveness to be considered for wide scale use.  

“Our qualified epidemiologists and experts who are going through the data to determine if the vaccine can reach an 80 per cent effectiveness so we can begin vaccination initiatives,” he said.

Subramaniam said the vaccine would help decrease the risk of hospitalisation cases for dengue and reduce dengue haemorrhagic fever cases by a significant amount.

He said the ministry was doing its best to combat dengue but bemoaned the local councils, which he believes could be doing more — especially in eradicating mosquito breeding grounds.

Malay Mail contacted Subang Jaya and Petaling Jaya city councils for comment but had yet to receive any response.

Subramaniam said the Malaysian Indian community needed to be more hardworking to better itself in today’s tough conditions.

Speaking at the launch of the 1Malaysia Indian Health Programme in Kuala Kubu Baru yesterday, he urged the Indian community to embrace government initiatives to better themselves.

“To build a new generation of Indians is our priority, to ensure their health and wealth aspects is looked into,” he said.

He said a majority of Indians in Malaysia suffer from diabetes, hypertension and heart ailments. 

“This community transformation programme will address six key values, which include education, diligence, wealth, discipline, mutual respect and honesty,” he said. 

Subramaniam said the younger generation of Indians have become lazy. 

“The older generation took risks, willing to learn and earn, no matter what it took,” he said.

“The youth today are different. They would rather spend time doing unhealthy activities.”

Because of that, he said, Indian youths have missed out on millions of job opportunities the country has to offer.

“Because the current generation fails to take risks, foreign workers are growing by the numbers,” he said.

“We have 2.5 million foreign workers in Malaysia.

“This is 2.5 million job opportunities you have missed.”

Subramaniam said the youth needed discipline, mutual respect and honesty to be able to become successful individuals.

“Tradition is the most valuable asset the Indian community has and our youth have lost their sense of it. This is alarming,” he said.

The transformation programme, a joint effort between the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), Special Implementation Task Force (SITF), Ministry of Health and their respective district health departments, is aimed at easing the burden of the community by providing medical services.

The government has set up “MyDaftar” booths to help those who still have red identification cards.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Registry Department have solved more than 9000 cases overall, out of which 7,000 are citizenship cases,” he said.

“We urge the community to step forward to claim their citizenship.”

Subramaniam said the government would iron-out issues with the district education board and schools to enable children to receive uninterrupted education. 

“Our priority is for the affected children. Since Malaysia practises basic human rights, a child’s education should not be denied,” he said.