Health Minister S Subramaniam said the factor of effectiveness was among several matters raised by the Technical and Scientific Committee on dengue vaccines.

He said scientific data also showed the vaccine was not suitable for children under nine-years-old and could only be used for the nine- to 18-year age group.

“As such, the Health Ministry needs to conduct a study taking into consideration several factors before applying the vaccine on the people,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam was speaking to reporters after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Medical Device Authority and Eastwood Park Integrated Academy Sdn Bhd.

He explained that Malaysia needed an ideal vaccine to protect from all dengue serotypes or at least serotype 2.

“As such it will take a longer time to study its effectiveness by the technical committee before the vaccine can be used in the country,” he said.

So far, only three countries, Brazil, Mexico and Philippines are using the vaccine while other countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are still studying its effectiveness.

In another development, Dr Subramaniam said any appointed company or contractor that failed to maintain facilities and equipment in government hospitals nationwide would be reprimanded with a penalty.

He said RM15 million was deducted from payments to such companies for failing to carry out maintenance of equipment in 2015.

“We do not want issues of lift and air-conditioner breakdowns as reported in the newspapers to recur,” he said.

– BERNAMA