The world of Tzu Chi June 2024 (Vol.150)

TZU CHI 150 27 An NGO-led Vaccination Initiative Sandakan I 18-19.05.2024 By the Tzu Chi Documenting Team Photo by Wong Shew Fun I n Sabah, about one-third of its population comprises of non-citizens, including undocumentedmigrants and stateless individuals. Following a mild measles outbreak in the Penampang district in December 2023, where the majority of cases were from non-citizens who had never received measles immunisation, the state’s Health Department urged full inoculation for children to protect them from the highly contagious disease. Since free vaccinations are not available for non-citizens, Datuk Dr. Christina, former Sabah State Health Director, brought together four non-governmental organisations, including Tzu Chi, and two government agencies, to organise a vaccination exercise on May 18 and 19, 2024, for the stateless community in Sandakan. The DANA Charity Group and Tzu Chi jointly funded the purchase of 3,500 doses of Measles- Rubella vaccines. Dr. Christina explained, “It is important to create herd immunity. As many children must be immunised so that we can actually control any spread of the disease among those who have not been immunised.” Although Tzu Chi recycling volunteers from the stateless villages had promoted the vaccination exercise to their fellow villagers, the turnout on the first day was below expectations. Hence, that evening, the medical team and Tzu Chi volunteers headed to the village and set up a temporary vaccination point to invite and provide on-the-spot vaccinations to the villagers. “Before this, our health clinic went from door todoor tooffer vaccinations, but thevillagers were still afraid of it. With Tzu Chi’s help in providing explanations this time, and being very polite and kind, we are happy that we managed to administer vaccinations,” sharedAminah Daut from the Sabah Nurses Association. Tzu Chi volunteer Wong Shew Fun attributed this success to the trust established between Tzu Chi and the stateless community since the COVID-19 relief efforts. She said, “They trust Tzu Chi and know that we are here to help them.” The two-day NGO-led exercise mobilised over 250 volunteer shifts in total, safeguarding the public health through collective efforts. Watch the video: