Dengue Fever Malaysia's 'Main Enemy' In 2014

By Siti Salwa Shaari KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- Dengue fever, a disease transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, has emerged as the 'main enemy' to Malaysians, with the disease spreading at an alarming rate compared to previous years. Director-general of Health, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said from January until Dec 6, a total of 98,128 dengue fever cases were reported throughout the country, an increase of 160 percent (60,430 cases) compared to 37,698 cases for the corresponding period in 2013. Deaths due to dengue fever during the same period also increased to 189 compared to 79 deaths the previous year, an increase of 139 percent (110 deaths). Though various efforts were taken by the government to fight this "main enemy" including organising 'gotong-royong' to eradicate aedes mosquitoes, the results were rather pathethic due to public apathy. In an analysis made by the Ministry of Health, out of a total of 96 dengue hotspot localities identified, only 13 localities held gotong-royong activities. In addition to the dengue threat, the country was also faced with the threat of an Ebola outbreak, fortunately, tests conducted on 10 foreigners who entered the country and suspected of suffering from Ebola were proven negative. Ebola is a haemorrhagic fever that often leads to death in humans and other primates and three countries, namely Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were hit by the disease. Until early December, 6,000 deaths were reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Apart from the absence of Ebola infection, it was also a relief for the country when no cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) reported from among the 22,320 Malaysian pilgrims this year. The year 2014 would certainly be a memorable one for the National Heart Institute (IJN) when on Jan 24, the hospital was announced as the first medical centre in the world to introduce the medical surgical method 'Mardil Medical Ventouch System' (VenTouch) specifically for the treatment of heart failure and mitral valve regurgitation. IJN Clinical Director Adult Surgery, Dr Jeswant Dillon said the method involved an incision of six to seven centimetres between the patient's ribs to enable the implant of a device around the heart. On March 20, IJN Cardiologist and Electro Physiologist, Dr Razali Omar announced IJN's success as the first centre in the Asia Pacific to carry out implant of the world's smallest pacemaker device in the world. Dr Razali said the device, able to last for up to 13 years, could be inserted into the patient's heart through the femoral vein without wires called leads connected to the heart. On Dec 10, Dr Razali further announced IJN's success as the first hospital in the Asia Pacific region to run Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator implant system or S-ICD, which functions similarly to the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator ICD to control heart rhythm. Rumours were also rife that the price of medicine would increase this year after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) due to begin on April 1 2015, in addition to concerns raised by the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement about to be finalised. On Dec 5, Deputy Health Minister Dr Hilmi Yahaya informed that the ministry had proposed to the Ministry of Finance to exempt 2,900 essential medicines from GST and a price list would be released next year for public information. International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed on April 25, gave the assurance that Malaysia would reject the proposal related to intellectual property rights in the TPPA involving medicines as the government was aware of the people's fear of an increase in medicine costs. The welfare of the people and health related issues had been a priority to the government and this was evident from the announcement by Prime Minister Najib Razak that US$6.7 billion (RM23.3 billion) had been allocated in the 2015 Budget to upgrade health services and facilities for the people next year. -- BERNAMA