Caution on Zika-birth defects link
Published on: Thursday, September 15, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: State Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad is taking a cautious stand concerning reported doubts that Zika alone causes birth defects, calling instead the Health Ministry to conduct its own research.She proposed that the ministry and local medical experts determine the truth of the report."I'm not a doctor but in my personal view, our Health Ministry and medical experts must conduct a detailed research to determine whether such claim is true or otherwise," she said in response to a question from the media about claims by Brazilian doctors that birth defects might not have been cause by Zika alone.
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It has been reported that Brazilian doctors were quietly acknowledging that they may have been wrong theorising that Zika itself causes birth defects."We suspect that something more than Zika virus is causing the high intensity and severity of cases," Fatima Marinho, director of information and health analysis at Brazil's Health Ministry, reportedly told the journal Nature last week.Jainab said whatever has been reported, the Zika virus has caused public anxiety especially to pregnant mothers and women who plan to have a child, in Sabah.She noted that certain parties have given their views including the Federal Territories Mufti Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohdmad Al-Bakri who was recently quoted as saying that Muslim women could abort their pregnancies before 120 days if they were infected by the Zika virus to avoid adverse effect on the lives of their families or the baby.
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But the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia (IMAM) suggested that any decision on abortion in the case of pregnant women infected by Zika should not be hastily implemented to avoid misunderstanding and injustice to the patient and foetus.Its deputy president, Dr Jamali Wagiman had reportedly proposed for a ministerial level medical bio-ethics advisory board comprising experts from obstetrics, infectious diseases, psychiatry, bio-ethics and religions to be formed by the Health Ministry to deal with the issue on termination of pregnancy for women infected by the Zika virus.
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He had also said the decision-making process would be safer and just to the mother and foetus, other than avoiding unilateral decisions which could be seen as conflicting between medical practice and syariah rules.Commenting on this, Jainab said she personally agreed with Dr Jamali's suggestion."I understand the anxiety of pregnant mothers because there's been a lot of assumptions that have caused confusion on what they should do.""Personally, I agree with Dr Jamali that any proposal or decision on abortion of pregnant women infected by Zika must not be hastily implemented, she added. On another matter, Jainab advised parents who have children with physical and mental disabilities not to see their condition as a dead end.She urged them to take the historic gold medal and world record-breaking feat of three Malaysia Paralympians in Rio, Brazil, as a source of hope and inspiration.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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