A tuberculosis (TB) patient can infect between 10 and 15 other individuals in no time because the disease is highly infectious.
Health Minister Chua Jui Meng said some 15,000 new TB cases were detected yearly.
Chua said BCG given to newborns and another booster at the age of 12 would give a person immunity until her or she is 18 or 21. After that a person has to depend on his or her own natural immunity.
Chua said TB was among the main causes of death in Malaysia. The fatality rate was 4.8% in 1995 and went up to 5.2% last year
. He said the causes included HIV co-infection, which accounted for 23.6% of all TB deaths last year, delayed diagnosis and poor compliance to treatment.
Chua said Sabah with 4,200 TB cases detected last year, was the worst affected state.
In terms of disease incidence, Chua said Kuala Lumpur topped the list with 1,713 cases followed by 856 cases in Penang. He said TB cases were more rampant in the urban areas.

July 4, 00
Asean should manufacture AIDS drugs
Excerpt from The Star:

Asean countries should band together to obtain the right to manufacture drugs for HIV/AIDS victims from multinational pharmaceuticals to make these medicine cheaper, Malaysian AIDS Council president Marina Mahathir said yesterday.
"This could save the lives of sufferers who could not afford to obtain these expensive drugs otherwise."
She said this after a press conference to publicise the Red Ribbon Gala 2000 a charity event by the Malaysian AIDS Foundation to be held on Sept 30 at the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur.

July 1, 00
More non-Malay medical assitants sought
Excerpt from The Star:

The Health Ministry wants more Chinese and Indians to be trained as medical assistants for a better racial mix in the profession.
Deputy Health Director-General (Medical) Dr Ahmad Tajudin Mohd Jaafar said that currently very few students from the two races were studying at the country's four medical assistants training colleges.
He said a better racial mix would widen the experience of students besides alleviating problems faced during Hari Raya holidays when Muslim staff went on leave.
Medical assistant students have to sit for a three-year diploma course at the colleges which are located in Seremban, Kuching, Alor Star and Ulu Kinta, near here.
About 400 students graduate from these colleges annually.
For those who choose to work in the Government, he said the present starting basic pay for medical assistants with diploma was RM1,072 per month.

June 30, 00
40 delegates for AIDS conference
Excerpt from The Star:

Forty Malaysians, including 16 delegates sponsored by the Malaysian AIDS Foundation, are expected to attend the 10th International AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa from July 9 to 14.
The conference is expected to attract 12,000 delegates and will cover issues such as community programmes and access to treatment.
The delegates include representatives from Malaysian AIDS Council, Pink Triangle, and the Health Ministry.
Malaysian AIDS Council president Marina Mahathir said the conference was important because it would help focus attention on the devastation of the disease.

Sept 12, 99
Don't use banned drug, warns Chua
Excerpt from The Star:

The Health Ministry has issued a clear warning to the livestock industry against the illegal use of the banned drug beta-agonist.
Minister Chua Jui Meng said the ministry would conduct extensive enforcement nationwide and impose stiffer penalties on those found guilty of using the drug especially in pork.
The enforcement would be conducted using a new method, implemented by the Chemistry Department last month, which can detect low residues of beta-agonist.
Chua said beta-agonist, which was banned for animal feed under the Poisons Act 1952 and Food Act 1983, was also used for other livestock such as goats, sheep and cattle.
"The use of the drug, however, is not extensive and still under control," he said adding that the federation had raised the issue with the ministry.
Excessive amounts of the drug could cause acute food poisoning, muscle tremors, headache, anxiety, and worsening of heart problems, he said.

Sept 11, 99
MMA: stick to prescribed dosage
Excerpt from The Star:

Paracetamol poses very little risk when taken in the recommended dosage, said the Malaysian Medical Association.
Association president Dr P. Krishnan, however, advised the public to adhere to the prescribed dosage because an overdose could cause liver and kidney damage.
"If after adhering to the prescribed dosage, your ailment or symptoms do not disappear, consult your doctor and do not at any time increase the dosage above the prescribed amount," he added.
A paediatrician said that at the moment, paracetamol was the medicine for common ailments with the least side-effects.
"There is no particular risk group, except for severe liver patients and a lower dosage required for children," she said.

Sept 11, 99
Doctors who prescribe propaganda
Excerpt from The Star:

The Health Ministry is identifying doctors in several states, including Kelantan and Kedah, who have allegedly spread opposition propaganda to their patients.
Minister Chua Jui Meng said the ministry was viewing the matter seriously although no official complaint had been lodged.
"Only a few black sheep are involved and stern action will be taken if there is proof they breached discipline," he told reporters yesterday after opening a health camp at Sek Keb Merbau.

Sept 10, 99
Health Ministry orders probe into girl's death
Excerpt from The Star:

A thorough investigation has been ordered into the death of the six-year-old girl who died of paracetamol poisoning.
Health Minister Chua Jui Meng said the authorities must determine if there was professional negligence in the death of Chin Kah Yee.
Chua, who met Kah Yee's parents--air-conditioning technician Chin Ah Soon, 38, and housewife Chai Yoke Chin, 34, at his office yesterday, advised the public to take the proper dosage when consuming paracetamol.
Chua said that paracetamol which is an over-the-counter medicine, was relatively safe at therapeutic doses.
"However, if taken in excess (overdose), it can cause damage to the liver and kidney which can be fatal," he added.
Deputy Health Director-General (Research and Technical Support) Dr Ismail Merican said that incidences of paracetamol poisoning was very rare.
"In over 100 cases of adult paracetamol overdose I have seen, only one died because the patient's liver had been damaged by alcohol abuse," he said.

Sept 9, 99
Plight of women down with AIDS
Excerpt from The Star:

Local AIDS awareness programmes should focus more on women as the number of cases involving them has become worrying.
Malaysian AIDS Council chairman Marina Mahathir said although the number of infected women was marginal compared to men, the incidence among women had increased almost 100% in recent years.
"And if we are seeing more women getting infected, then we can also expect to see higher rates of transmission from mother to child," said Marina, adding that the infection rate among women rose from 3% to 6.3% within two decades.
She was speaking to reporters after briefing the media on the 5th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific to be held from Oct 23 to Oct 27.
Marina said the number of infected people in the country was growing dramatically and the disease should be taken seriously as there was a potential for it to become worse.
"By 2000, we expect 170,000 Malaysians to be infected with HIV and that involves a lot of people especially when you consider their families," she said.
She said 30,187 Malaysians were reported to have been infected with HIV with 2,761 infected with AIDS as of May.
Marina said Malaysians should not be complacent and assume that drug users were the only high risk group in Malaysia as heterosexual activity also contributed largely to HIV infection. "In fact 90% of intravenous drug users do engage in casual sex and most do not use condoms," she said.
Marina said this year's ICAAP would work to take stock of the prevailing situation in Asia and the Pacific and create guidelines and policies to cope with the epidemic for regional Governments.
"We hope to come out with a KL Declaration and Platform for Action to prevent further spread of the disease and detail treatment and care for those infected," she said.

Sept 7, 99
Parents of dead girl ponder legal suit
Excerpt from The Star:

Parents of a six-year-old girl who died from paracetamol poisoning are considering taking legal action against two doctors who prescribed the drug at a higher than recommended dosage.
The girl's father, Chin Ah Soon, 38, said yesterday he was seeking advice from MCA's Legal Aid Bureau to take the doctors to court and prevent them from repeating their error.
Chin, who has two other daughters, aged three and four, said he was shocked to discover through the post-mortem findings on July 31 that his daughter, Kah Yee, had died from organ failure due to paracetamol poisoning.
"Who knew that paracetamol could kill anybody?" said Chin, adding that his daughter was prescribed one and a half tablets of paracetamol every four hours, which is an adult dosage.
Chin said his daughter, a Year One pupil at SRJKC Chung Kwo, Jalan Loke Yew, came down with a fever on July 24 and his wife, Chai Yoke Chin, 34, took her to a clinic in Kuala Lumpur which his family previously visited.
He said Kah Yee was prescribed paracetamol but did not recover. Instead, she started vomiting he said, adding that he took her back to the same clinic.
He said Kah Yee was given similar medication but her condition did not improve.
"We went back a third time to the clinic and this time, another doctor prescribed a heavier dose of paracetamol every four hours," said Chin.
He said his daughter fainted on July 27 and was taken to a private hospital before being sent to another hospital here where she was found to be bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract and warded.
Kah Yee died on July 31 and a post-mortem found that she died from organ failure due to paracetamol poisoning.

August 16, 99
Chua: Decision shows Govt's concern
Excerpt from The Star:

The decision to scrap plans to corporatise public hospitals shows that the Government listens to the people, said Health Minister Chua Jui Meng.
Chua said various non-governmental organisations, consumer groups and professional medical bodies were against the move to corporatise public hospitals citing higher costs and added burden to the poor.
"The Government listened to the concerns of the public on this issue and decided against it," said Chua yesterday.
The Cabinet decided last Wednesday to call off the proposal to corporatise public hospitals. The decision ensures the Government remains the main provider of healthcare instead of regulator of healthcare under corporatisation.

August 16, 99
Better response needed, says Chua
Excerpt from The Star:

Response from the public towards organ donation is still not enough to meet the nationwide demand, said Health Minister Chua Jui Meng.
Todate, he said, 15,300 people had pledged to donate their organs compared to the "annual demand" for 1,200 kidneys, 700 corneas/eyes, 450 hearts and 400 livers.
"We need a very large donor population to meet this demand. Of the annual demand for kidneys, about six only gets donors.
"Our main concern is the lack of cadaveric organ donors, that is people who donate their organs when they are clinically dead.
"The ministry does not have a set target but all we know is that we need more than 15,300 donors," he told reporters after opening a Love and Care Campaign yesterday. Chua said the ministry discovered that the majority of registered donors were aged 40 and below.
Chua, however, believes that the response would increase gradually in the long run.
He said the National Transplant Co-ordinating Committee, which was set up in March last year, was going all out to encourage the public to donate their organs.
Chua also said that the committee had made a breakthrough as it had persuaded all religious groups to support the organ donation drive.

August 14, 99
Hospitals, clinics won't be corporatised
Excerpt from New Straits Times:

The Government has decided not to corporatise public hospitals and clinics but instead work towards providing better health care services.
Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said today the Cabinet made the decision on Wednesday after considering the concerns, views and suggestions of the people through their various representatives.
He said the country already had a good public health care system that provided quality medical care and that the existing services and facilities would continue to be owned and run by the Government.
"These services and facilities would be enhanced to provide faster and better medical attention while efforts would be made to reduce bureaucracy and decentralise decision-making.
"The present fee structure would be retained even as the Government invests more to provide better health care services," Chua said at a Press conference at his Ministry.
He said although the cost of providing public health services would continue to rise, it would not be transferred to the people but would be absorbed by the Government.
"The country's public health system is very good and has been recognised by the World Health Organisation and the World Bank as being among the best in the developing world.
"We have a system that is affordable, equitable, accessible and of quality. If we want to change to a new system of governance, a new system of operation, we must be assured that the system is better than the one we have at present.
"This has always been the stand of the Government and the Ministry of Health. We do not propose to change for the sake of change," Chua said.
Asked if the move was a political gimmick in view of the imminent general election, Chua said: "No."
He said the Government had to put up with a lot of Opposition political propaganda that Government hospitals and clinics would be corporatised and privatised almost immediately.
He said the study on corporatisation of hospitals had been going on since 1985.
"The Opposition had been talking about privatisation as if we are going to give the equity of these hospitals and clinics to the private sector. Names have been mentioned.
"It is baseless as the proposal was corporatisation and not privatisation."
The minister gave as example the corporatisation of the National Heart Institute in 1993, where patients who could not afford treatment were heavily subsidised by the Government.
Chua said now that there would not be any corporatisation, there were issues that the Government would now have to address very vigorously.
"Civil services have constraints of bureaucracy. One of the original reasons for corporatisation was to de-bureaucratise the health system. Now the question is how do we make our structure of over 80,000 personnel flexible and decentralised so that decisions can be made faster in the interest of health care.
"Public expectations keep rising and coupled with new technology and treatment methods, faster response time is needed."
On better incentives for doctors and nurses, Chua said proposals had been made to the Government.The recent economic situation had forced the proposals to be put on hold. He said under the Seventh Malaysia Plan, 30 new hospitals would be built at a cost of RM5.6 billion and that 27 hospitals, costing RM2.7 billion, not completed under the Sixth Plan, would also be built now.
He said RM1.5 billion had been spent on upgrading 10 hospitals under the Seventh Plan, adding that the country spent three per cent of the gross domestic product on health care compared to 6.6 per cent in South Korea, eight per cent in developed nations and 14 per cent in the United States.

August 14, 99
MMA lauds Government's decision
Excerpt from New Straits Times:

The Malaysian Medical Association today welcomed the Government's decision not to corporatise government hospitals and to continue to play "a provider role" in health care.
"Rather than dismantling the public sector, the MMA believes that government hospitals and medical services should be restructured and upgraded by the infusion of resources that will improve the quality of care and uplift the morale and motivation of health personnel," MMA president Dr P. Krishnan said.
He was commenting on the Government's decision not to corporatise government hospitals and clinics, which was announced by Health Minister Chua Jui Meng today.

July 28, 99
Four suffered relapses, says UM don
Excerpt from New Straits Times:

Four viral encephalitis patients who were discharged from Universiti Hospital have suffered relapses, with one resulting in death.
According to Universiti Malaya medical microbiology department head Professor Dr Lam Sai Kit, the four were out of approximately 100 cases who were found to have had the Nipah virus and treated in the hospital.
"We are talking about a very small number of clinical relapse cases," he told reporters after a seminar on the Nipah Virus at Universiti Malaya here yesterday.
Dr Lam said that there had been a Hendra virus case reported in Australia where a patient became ill with encephalities 13 months after picking up the infection.
"We do not know whether we will face the same situation with the Nipah virus. What we are seeing now are some clinical relapses within a few weeks of discharge, a much shorter time interval than Hendra encephalities.
"We are not sure what is the cause of the relapse. We had a post mortem done. We tried to re-isolate the virus thinking that perhaps it was like measles where there is persistent infection and if it is reactivated, it becomes more severe.
"But it was not the case," he said.
Dr Lam said that some of the patients went through brain scans which showed that they had lesions in the brain similar to those in the early cases.
According to Dr Lam, there would be "a very intense" monitoring of all patients and contacts that had been shown to be infected with Nipah for at least one year.
"We will recall them regularly, check them clinically and run tests to make sure."

July 24, 99
Facility a boon for Sabah heart patients
Excerpt from The Star:

Heart patients in Sabah no longer need to go to the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur or elsewhere for treatment with the setting up of an Open Heart Surgery facility at the Sabah Medical Centre (SMC).
Since its establishment in August last year, 41 patients in the State had undergone open heart surgery, while 84 patients underwent angiogram and angioplasty procedures.
The facility was officially launched by Chief Minister Osu Sukam today.
The idea for the setting up of the facility was mooted by the SMC in 1995 when it approached the IJN to extend its cardiovascular treatment and surgery services to Sabah.
Osu said that the setting up of the facility complemented the Government's efforts to reduce the number of deaths linked to cardiovascular diseases in the State.
He said a total of 7,965 patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases were admitted to Sabah hospitals last year. He added that 670 of them, however, died.
SMC managing director Chok Chin Tian said IJN had trained SMC's personnel to assist in surgical operations and procedures and to manage the Cardiac Coronary Unit (CCU) and Intensive Cardiac Care Unit (ICCU).

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