By Siti Rohaizah Zainal
SHAH ALAM, June 8 — The state government has set up a secretariat for its campaign on child safety in vehicles, as part of its efforts to raise awareness among parents and caregivers.
State executive councillor for welfare Anfaal Saari said the secretariat comprises, among others, childcare centre associations, state health department, education department and Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor.
The aim of the campaign is to prevent incidents of children being left behind in vehicles.
“Through this safety campaign, childcare centres, as operators, are expected to contact parents in case of any delays or absences. This practice of always reminding one another must be maintained.”
“In fact, the next phase of our campaign involves private companies and shopping malls sharing awareness messages by reminding parents not to leave their children behind in cars,” she told Selangorkini.
Anfaal also advised parents to adopt the “look back” practice to prevent incidents of children being left behind in vehicles.
“My office will continue to implement an integrated campaign involving social media platforms, mass media and community service programmes.
“We do not want incidents of children being left behind in vehicles, which can result in fatalities, to recur. Such incidents can cause severe emotional distress for parents,” she said.
Previously, on January 30, it was reported that a five-year-old girl had died after she was found unconscious in her mother’s car, which was parked near the back door of Shah Alam Hospital.
An investigation found the child’s mother, who works at the hospital, had left the girl in the car by accident. She had picked up her daughter at a nearby nursery at about 2pm before returning to work.
Earlier in November, a two-year-old girl died after being left in a vehicle for eight hours in Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya.
Following these incidents, the Selangor government launched a safety campaign on March 21 aimed at preventing further deaths of children in vehicles.
The campaign with the tagline ‘Di Mana Anak Anda Sekarang?’ (Where is Your Child Now?) will be implemented through three main strategies, namely promoting awareness among targeted groups; implementing a comprehensive campaign across all available platforms; and empowering policy advocacy and addressing the root causes of the problem.