Welcome to the Malaysian Paediatric Association official website

MPA Committee 2005

MPA Backgrounder 2005

Overview

The Malaysian Paediatric Association (MPA) was founded in 1979. Today, the association’s membership has increased in strength from a mere handful to nearly 600 members.

Membership is made up of paediatricians, paediatric nurses, medical students and others involved and interested in paediatrics and child health.

MPA aspires to be the opinion leader in all issues related to paediatrics and child health. This covers not only health, but social issues and current controversies as well such as inappropriate advertising targeted at children and adolescents, unsuitable TV programmes for viewing, disabled children, young criminals and their rights, substance abuse and cigarette smoking.

MPA is affiliated with the Association of Paediatric Societies of the Southeast Asia Region (APPSEAR), now renamed Asian Pacific Paediatric Association (APPA), and International Paediatric Association (IPA). Locally, MPA is affiliated with the National Council for Child Welfare (Majlis Kebajikan Kanak-kanak Malaysia).

Activities

Annual Scientific Congress

The annual scientific congress is the highlight of the activities of MPA. It is an important meeting that attracts paediatricians and paediatric nurses from all around the country. Many resolutions coming out of these meetings have become the basis for policies related to paediatric practice in the country.

MPA has hosted and organized many regional and international paediatric congresses in Malaysia, such as the 9th Asian Pan Pacific Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Congress at the Shangri La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur in 2005, 2nd Asian Congress of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Sutera Harbour Resort, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in 2004, the 10th ASEAN Pediatric Federation Congress in 2000, 6th Asia-Oceanian Congress of Child Neurology in Penang in 1999, 4th International Congress of Tropical Pediatrics in 1996, 5th ASEAN Pediatric Federation Congress (Trauma in Childhood) in 1990, 5th Asian Congress of Pediatrics in 1985, 2nd ASEAN Pediatric Federation Congress (Perinatal Issues in Pediatrics) in 1983.

Berita MPA

The Berita MPA is the newsletter of the Malaysia Paediatric Association.

It provides information on activities, conferences, social events, movements of paediatricians and latest scientific updates on paediatrics and medicine from the local and international front.

Promoting Professional Development

MPA has always made an effort to accumulate and disseminate information, which will be of benefit to its members in their professional development.

Some of these include publication of MPA’s journal, large-scale studies as well as academic publications:

Malaysian Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health

Very Low Birth Weight Study

Masalah Pediatrik Untuk Jururawat – a book for nurses

The Total Child – a publication for the public

Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali Research Award is given to any young paediatrician or trainee who wants to embark on any research involving paediatrics or child health.

Malaysian Paediatric Association Training Fellowship for Asian Paediatricians

MPA Website

The MPA website, which went online in 2001, is aimed at recording the history of MPA, increasing contact of the Association with the members and to provide a platform for its many educational activities. Resource material for members and the public will also be included.

The website can be visited at http://mpaeds.org.my

Community and Charitable Activities

MPA engages in many community and charitable activities, namely:

Malaysian Paediatric Foundation – aimed at encouraging research and teaching of paediatrics and child health; and to provide financial support to paediatric trainees and paediatricians who wish to carry out research.

Children Cancer Fund – a fund that began in 1984 with the hope of collecting enough money to start a halfway house for children with cancer in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Through the years, the fund has helped many needy oncology patients particularly those at the Paediatric Institute, Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Rumah Pendidikan Kesihatan dan Pemakanan (RPKP) – started in 1979, the RPKP programme provided useful health and educational services for the poor in Sentul. It started at Kampung Tun HS Lee and subsequently moved to Bandar Baru Sentul when the squatter area was relocated. Its basic objectives were to provide health, nutritional and social care for the disadvantaged population living in the area. The project has been concluded due to improved social and economic status of the population concerned.

Borderless Pediatrics – Some members of MPA have traveled to war-torn countries on humanitarian missions, including Kosovo and Afghanistan, to help children and their families. MPA has provided partial financial support for members who participated in such activity.

Positive Parenting – initiated in the year 2000, it is MPA’s first major, multi-faceted parent education programme. Recognizing the role of parents in raising healthy and well-adjusted children, the programme is aimed at generating greater understanding of children’s health, safety, nutrition and well-being through practical information, advice and tips.

“Make It Safe For Kids” Campaign – A collaborative child safety and injury prevention campaign with Johnson & Johnson Sdn Bhd with the support of Ministry of Health. The campaign aims to decrease the incidence of child injury in this country by raising awareness of child injury prevention amongst parents and child carers by providing them with essential information on proper child injury prevention techniques, first aid and resuscitation.

The Malaysian Paediatric Association can be reached at:

Malaysian Paediatric Association
3rd Floor (Annexe Block)
National Cancer Society Building
66, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz
50300 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03–2691 5379 / 2698 9966 Fax: 03–2691 3446
Email: mpaeds@po.jaring.my

FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT
The 2nd Asian Congress of Paediatric Infectious Diseases will be held 2-4 September 2004.

Venue: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

www.sabahtourism.com.

Current Issue: More to gain from measles jab- the Sunday Star 18-4-04

THE Malaysian Paediatric Association (MPA) would like to state its stand on the current measles vaccination campaign among school children and to clarify a few points of concern that have been raised over the media.

Firstly, measles is highly contagious and is a serious and debilitating childhood disease. During the acute stage, children may suffer serious complications like diarrhoea, pneumonia, convulsions, and meningoencephalitis that could lead to brain and lung damage, and even death. Senior doctors used to see a condition called SSPE, a delayed complication of measles where the child becomes progressively mentally retarded with abnormal movements and eventually becomes bed-bound.

So, it must be made very clear that measles is not a disease to be taken lightly and vaccination has not only saved lives but also prevented its many associated complications.

To that end, the MPA strongly supports the World Health Organisation recommendation that measles vaccination be included in the Expanded Programme on Immunisation for children.

Secondly, the measles vaccine has been in use for more than 30 years now. Worldwide, tens of millions of children have been immunised with this vaccine and the benefits far outweigh any related risks.

The side-effects are minimal and spare the majority of the children who receive the vaccines. This discomfort, if at all, would be a small price to pay for protection against a killer disease.

Although concerns over allergic reactions following measles or MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) vaccination are not unfounded, these reactions are rare and are mostly minor. Severe allergic reactions, known as anaphylactic reactions, are extremely rare.

There are cases where, despite being vaccinated, some children still do break out with measles, but they almost always suffer a milder form of the illness. This is because the child’s immune system did not develop complete protection after receiving the vaccine, but whatever antibodies he managed to develop still ameliorated him from full-blown measles with all the associated complications.

We also recognise that some children fail completely to respond to the first dose of the vaccine. However, most of them become protected after receiving a second dose.

A few years ago, there was a report that queried the link between the MMR vaccine and autism. This has been thoroughly disproved in subsequent larger and well-controlled studies, however.

So, the MPA can confidently say that the measles vaccine is a safe vaccine, and fully endorses the Health Ministry’s current campaign to vaccinate all school children between the ages of seven and 15.

This campaign offers a second opportunity for a significant number of children who were not vaccinated in their early years to receive their first dose of the measles vaccine. Those who received a previous dose will benefit from a second one.

In the event that a child who has had previous measles vaccinations (more than once) is re-vaccinated, there is no evidence of increased risk of adverse reactions.

Thirdly, there is a misunderstanding of the concept of mass immunisation.

On a personal level, parents are only concerned about their child’s protection. However, the government has a far greater responsibility in ensuring the health of the nation’s children, hence the importance of “herd immunity”.

By vaccinating all school-going children, we create a large pool of children who have “resistance” against measles and so we are able to cut down the incidence of this disease among this population group.

Indirectly, this would translate into a lower chance of spreading measles to other children, especially those under a year old (measles can be more severe in children of this age) and those with impaired immune system (such as children with HIV/AIDS or those undergoing cancer therapy or taking therapeutic steroids), as well as adult contacts who have not been immunised.

This is why a mass vaccination programme is being implemented, and Malaysia is certainly not the only country to adopt such a strategy.

The only concern now is that there is currently an outbreak of measles in the Klang Valley.

As measles can cause a transient immunological depression in these patients, it would be prudent to defer vaccination in this small number of children who have just recovered from a confirmed recent infection. Their parents will have to produce a letter from a paediatrician confirming that the child was treated for measles to let them be exempted from the present campaign.

All other children within the age range stated above should have the vaccination. Those who have received two doses can also have another dose without any fear of adverse reactions.

Lastly, the MPA would like to commend the Health Ministry for implementing the mass vaccination for measles campaign.

We also urge the Ministry to ensure that adequate funding is allocated annually to safeguard the health of our children.

DR KOH CHONG TUAN
Chairman
Current Affairs Committee
Malaysian Paediatric Association
Penang