KUALA LUMPUR: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for stronger measures to protect children from the health and social impacts of the recurring haze crisis, including ensuring access to healthcare, education and essential support during school closures.
UNICEF Malaysia deputy representative Sanja Saranovic highlighted that about nine in 10 of Malaysia’s nine million children were exposed to harmful fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which could penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream, potentially causing serious health problems.
"Children were particularly vulnerable to air pollution because their lungs, brains and immune systems were still developing, with exposure potentially causing damage that could begin before birth and last a lifetime,” she said in a statement on Friday (Oct 16).
While acknowledging the need for school closures to safeguard children from poor air quality, Saranovic stressed that prolonged disruptions could affect their learning and well-being, particularly those without devices or reliable internet access for home-based learning.
Aside from providing education, she said schools also served as places where children could access daily routines, trusted adults, peer connections and, in some cases, vital meals and social support.
To address these challenges, Saranovic outlined four priorities to strengthen protection during haze episodes, namely helping families prepare, ensuring continuity of learning, maintaining access to healthcare and social support, and strengthening preparedness plans at schools and clinics.
She said families should receive clear information on school closures and practical advice on reducing exposure to polluted air, while schools should provide offline learning materials and self-learning kits for children without devices or reliable internet access.
She also stressed that schools and healthcare facilities should have haze preparedness plans linked to official air-quality information and health guidance, with low-cost air-quality monitors helping schools assess local conditions and respond accordingly.
Moreover, Saranovic said tackling the haze crisis required collective action by Malaysia and its neighbours to prevent forest and peatland fires, strengthen air-quality monitoring and ensure greater accountability among governments and businesses, while safeguarding the livelihoods of affected communities.
"Children cannot stop the fires, clear the air, or decide when schools will reopen. They depend on adults to act, and they have a right to be heard in those decisions,” she said. — Bernama
