Nursiah's Confession, Mother of Rubella Sufferer

JAKARTA (9/18/2018) - Mrs. Nursiah, 47, a resident of Lhokseumawe, Aceh, never thought that her second child named Syakila had to suffer from Rubella due to contracting when she was pregnant. As a result of the disease, Syakila who is currently 7 years old cannot grow like children of her age.

Reflecting on her experience, Mrs. Nursiah invited all communities to participate in the success of the Measles Rubella (MR) Vaccines program that was held by the Government, so that what she experienced was not experienced by other parents.

Mrs. Nursiah conveyed this in the Forum Merdeka Barat (FMB) 9 Media Discussion with the theme "The Long Way of MUI Fatwa MR Vaccine", held in the Multifunction Hall of the Ministry of Communication and Information, Jakarta, Tuesday (09/18/2018).

"My hope for mothers or those who are anti-vaccine, please do not say that the vaccine is not right, haram. What if you yourselves experience? I have experienced it, we have a community of mothers whose children are Rubella sufferers. Our complaints are the same, we strengthen each other. Rubella is exist," she said.

Furthermore Mrs. Nursiah told of the beginning of her infection with Rubella when she was 2 months pregnant. At that time she and her husband thought that she naturally had measles because there were red bruises on the skin.

"6 months pregnant, I routinely went to the obstetrician, but the doctor said there was nothing, maybe because ultrasound could not identify it. At that 6 months, the baby did not move and doctor gave her medication. At the birth there was a same thing happened, so I decided on a cesarean section. She did not cry when she was born so she was immediately treated at the ICU," she explained.

Mrs. Nursiah admitted that due to Rubella's disease, as Syakila grew, that her youngest child continued to experience various diseases that required surgery.

"Rubella sufferer has a weight problem, we have to undergo a heart surgery, we have to wait for the weight to gain first, then we have to undergo eye surgery, we have to wait for the weight to gain again. Her hearing was also disrupted. So I don’t want you to see the haram. What if you experience it as we do, is it still haram?" She said.

Mrs. Nursiah then advised the Government that immunization is also applied to adults, because the environment also contributes to Rubella transmission.

"Please pay attention, immunization is also for adults, not only for children, because of the impact on pregnant women. And for the region, Aceh in particular, how will the Acehnese children be if they are not immunized? Do you want Acehnese children like my daughter, Syakila?" She said.

The Minister of Health Nila F Moeloek, Plt. Deputy of Drug Supervision and NAPPZA Reri Indriani, President Director of PT Bio Farma M Rahman Roestan, and General Chairman of MUI KH Ma'ruf Amin also attended as resource person in FMB 9 this time.

You can also follow the FMB 9 activity directly on: www.fmb9.id, FMB9ID (Twitter), FMB9.ID (Instagram), FMB9.ID (Facebook), and FMB9ID (Youtube)