KUALA LUMPUR: Public health experts and tourism associations have expressed support for Malaysia to introduce a health passport as part of the travel requirements for domestic and international tourists.

A health passport refers to documents that certify a person is unlikely to either catch or spread an infectious disease.

The proposed certificate would attest that the holder has been vaccinated, tested negative for the virus or recovered from it.

Manipal University College Malaysia Community and Occupational Medicine Professor Dr G. Jayakumar said the health passport must factor in three key challenges. 

"Firstly, it is too early to know if Covid-19 vaccines can provide long-term immunity against the virus. So, the health passport may give a false sense of security to travellers, resulting in them becoming complacent with practising preventive measures.

"Secondly, a non-vaccinated person who has been tested negative for Covid-19 can still contract the virus after taking the test. Hence, health passports based on negative test results have a short shelf life.

"Thirdly, although it is rare, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has suggested that people who have recovered from Covid-19 infection could get reinfected again. Therefore, this raises questions on the passport's scientific grounding," he told the New Straits Times.

He said it could take time for people around the world to be inoculated and obtain universal herd immunity.

"So, wealthier countries are likely to benefit from early vaccination and, therefore, their people will be allowed to travel first. The disparity between the freedoms permitted to health passport holders versus non-holders could be deemed unfair."

Nevertheless, he said Malaysia could consider introducing a health passport requirement in Southeast Asia if conditions were met.

"We need to ensure the vaccination rates of Asean countries are high enough for travellers to enter individual countries.

"Malaysia will have to look at the infectivity rate of each of the countries to implement mutually accepted health passports.

"Countries with higher Covid-19 infection rates should be excluded from the plan first. At the same time, the testing system in each host country should match international standards," he said.

Epidemiologist and biostatistician Associate Professor Dr Malina Osman said WHO would be the best authority to issue the health passport as part of its International Health Regulations.

"Otherwise, disputes will arise between countries regarding the certification standards used by different regulatory bodies to issue their respective health passports.

"However, it may take time for WHO to implement this new regulation.

"But, at the regional level, we can introduce similar procedures as a travel requirement for Asean countries under the Asean Health Ministers' Meeting's purview," she said.

Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said Asean countries must agree to adopt uniform health and safety protocols before introducing the health passports.

"The key concern is getting all Asean governments to accept the same certification, procedures, conditions and protocols for entry, and also the airlines carrying those travellers to approve the same certification to allow them to fly.

"The health passports suggestion is also a good solution to replace mandatory quarantine and spur cross-border travel within the region," he said.

Tan, who is Federation of Asean Travel Associations president, said Asean countries must boost cooperation and devise a regional framework for cross-border travel.

On Feb 6, Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association president Uzaidi Udanis told the NST that health authorities should introduce a Covid-19 health passport when Malaysia's tourism industry reopens post-pandemic.

He suggested that the health passport could model the Yellow Card (Carta Jaune) issued by WHO to certify that a person had been vaccinated against infectious diseases, such as cholera, yellow fever and rubella.  

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2021/02/664318/experts-associations-back-health-passport