Several health experts have taken to Twitter to condemn authorities for spraying disinfectant on undocumented migrants during a raid last night.
This came after authorities purportedly sprayed Dettol disinfectant on immigrants arrested during the raid in Cyberjaya as well as Immigration Department officers participating in the raid.
“This is completely inhuman and harmful behaviour by the authorities,” said paediatrician Dr Amar-Singh HSS, urging the Health Ministry to intervene.
“They are our fellow human beings. The spraying has absolutely no value,” he said.
World Health Organisation Science Council member Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, who has been vocal in criticising the government’s mass sanitisation exercises as not being in line with the current understanding of Covid-19, said she is lost for words over the incident.
“I am actually lost for words. Where has our humanity gone?” she asked.
They joined a chorus of other criticism on Twitter against spraying disinfectant on the undocumented migrants. Many criticised it as cruel and inhumane, while others pointed to a lack of health benefits and potential harms of the exercise.
When told by another netizen that only the hands were sprayed, Adeeba said that would be a fair thing to do, but she maintained that rounding up immigrants is counterproductive to Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign.
“The whole thing is very dehumanising and robs them of their dignity,” she added.
However, the Immigration Department’s video from the raid showed its officers being sprayed with disinfectants from the head to the bottom of their shoes, while footage from Malaysia Gazette showed that at least some detainees were sprayed in the face as well as their hands.
Meanwhile, the Immigration Department defended its actions in a statement posted on its official Facebook page today.
It said it had sprayed Dettol not only on undocumented migrants detained during the raid, but also on Immigration Department officers participating in the raid including the department’s director-general, Khairul Dzaimee Daud.
“This was done to curb Covid-19 infectious because their living spaces are very dirty and crowded.
“The Immigration Department views seriously the reports and writings made maliciously to tarnish the department’s reputation,” it said.
It added that the detainees have been given the best possible treatment by providing them with food and toilet facilities during the document screening process. Those who were unwell were taken to hospital.
Health authorities advise against spray disinfectants
For the record, the WHO advises frequent handwashing with soap or alcohol-based sanitiser as one of many facets of Covid-19 prevention, but said spraying individuals with disinfectant is “not recommended under any circumstances”.
“This could be physically and psychologically harmful and would not reduce an infected person’s ability to spread the virus through droplets or contact.
“Moreover, spraying individuals with chlorine and other toxic chemicals could result in eye and skin irritation, bronchospasm due to inhalation, and gastrointestinal effects such as nausea and vomiting,” it said in guidelines published in May 2020.
It does not currently recommend spraying disinfectants including for surface cleaning, whether indoors or outdoors.
“If disinfectants are to be applied, this should be done with a cloth or wipe that has been soaked in disinfectant,” it said, referring to the cleaning of contaminated surfaces.
The Health Ministry’s Health Technology Assessment Section (Mahtas) also evaluated the spraying of disinfectants on people using devices such as disinfection tunnels and booths.
It found no evidence in favour of the practice in the scientific literature, and recommended against it due to “lack of scientific evidence and unclear risk-benefit profile”.
Dettol: Follow label instructions
The official product website for Dettol says its antiseptic liquid and disinfectant spray are effective in killing the virus that causes Covid-19.
However, it stresses that these products should be used in accordance with label instructions and never administered into the human body whether through injection, ingestion or any other means.
The usage instructions on the website for these products make no mention of spraying the products on any part of the human body.
Instead, the website said the antiseptic liquid may be diluted for cleaning wounds, bathing, or for use as an external antiseptic when facilitating childbirth.
The disinfectant spray is only used as a surface disinfectant on places such as door handles, shower curtains, and mattresses. - Mkini
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