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Measures in place to keep bird flu at bay

Necessary measures have been put in place to ensure that the avian flu does not return to Malaysia, said Veterinary services Department director-general Datuk Dr Hawari Hussein.
“We have continued with the measures that were put in place since we were declared free from the bird flu previously,” he said, when contacted yesterday.
Dr Hawari said among the measures were not importing poultry from the affected countries, putting up border controls and monitoring movement of poultry within the country.

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Dengue: No PE for Pahang students

Schools in the State have been ordered to cease all outdoor physical education lessons to prevent students from being exposed to Aedes mosquitoes.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakub said the move was necessary as such lessons, especially in the late afternoon, were held when the mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus were active.
The State Health Department has advised that the danger posed by mosquitoes was at its peak between 6am and 8am, and 4pm and 7pm.
Adnan, who is also State Health Committee chairman, said the Education Ministry would be informed of the State Government’s decision tomorrow.
“We are not taking any chances and will do everything necessary to lessen the risk of students being infected by the disease,” he said after a meeting with Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development Minister Datuk Khaled Nordin today.

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No Possibility Of Measles Outbreak During CNY Period, Says Dr Soon

SIBU, Jan 31 (Bernama) — There is no possibility of a measles outbreak in the state during the coming Chinese New Year festival period, Assistant Housing Minister Dr Soon Choon Teck said Monday.
He said that as long as the children and adults had received their immunisation, usually early in their lives, they were not likely to catch the sickness.
There has been fear among the people that the sickness will spread following a lot of movement to other parts of the state of those from the affected areas in Bakun in view of the long holidays ahead.
Speaking to reporters after presenting “angpow” and goodies from Sports Toto Malaysia to about 200 elderly folk here, Dr Soon advised parents who had yet to get their children immunised to visit their nearest clinics immediately.
He believed that the 13 Penan children and an adult who died of the sickness recently could have not received their immunisation due to their nomadic lifestyle and ignorance of health requirements.
Dr Soon meanwhile hoped that the still nomadic ones among the 1,000- odd Penans in the jungles of Kapit, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang Divisions would one day accept efforts to resettle them.
“By doing so, their children will benefit from education, health facilities and generally a better and healthier lifestyle,” he said.
He said that although the state government was at present providing the flying doctor service particularly in isolated rural areas and settlements, it could not effectively serve them as it was difficult to locate them when they move around in the vast jungles.

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Appeal for resident doctor in Bakun

MIRI: The Bakun region, where a measles outbreak recently killed 14 Penans, should have a resident doctor as the population has doubled in recent years, said Ulu Rejang MP Billy Abit Joo.
He said the region had some 20,000 people living in and around the RM6bil hydroelectric dam and the nearest doctor was stationed hundreds of kilometres away in Bintulu and Kapit.
“Initially, there were about 10,000 people living in 15 longhouses in the areas affected by the dam project.
“After they were relocated to the Sungai Asap resettlement scheme (in 1998), their population increased to about 15,000.
“Add the number of migrant workers who have entered Bakun to work at the dam, oil palm plantations and the timber sector, the total population is now at least 20,000.
“Not a single doctor is stationed in the Sungai Asap clinic, only medical assistants. The nearest doctor is several hundreds of kilometres away,” he said.
Abit said he had proposed to the Health Ministry that the Sungai Asap clinic be upgraded to a hospital to meet the growing needs of the people in Bakun.

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Soaring on the wings of words

FOR three days in a row late last year, the International Medical University (IMU) was abuzz with 108 fluent debaters from varsities nationwide.
The debaters had congregated there for the third National Health Sciences Debate (NHSD) organised by the IMU debating society.
First organised by IMU in 2002 in conjunction with its 10th anniversary celebrations, the NHSD aims to enhance awareness on health issues, develop presentation and public speaking skills, hone analytical thinking, and nurture social skills such as cooperation and teamwork among young people.
NHSD convener Thavenesh said: “Every year, we see an increase in the number of participating teams and colleges. We look forward to enhancing our knowledge and learning from each other.”
To help teams participating for the first time, a workshop was conducted by NHSD deputy chief adjudicator Dr Muthu prior to the commencement of the debates.
The teams that made it into the finals were UKM for opening government, UiTM Shah Alam for opening opposition, IIUM for closing government and MMU for closing opposition. They debated on the motion “Schizophrenics should not be allowed to have children.”
All four teams delivered their arguments with ease and confidence, and put up a show which fully met the expectations of the audience.
MMU took home the championship. Mohd Syakri and Suthen Thomas won RM2,000 prize money sponsored by IMU and two psychology books sponsored by Eli Lilly Sdn Bhd.
First runner up UKM walked away with RM1,000.
Second runner up UiTM Shah Alam won RM500 while third runner up IIUM bagged RM250.
The best overall speaker award went to UiTM’s Danial Amir.

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City Hall Officers To Check Houses For Aedes At Night

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) — Kuala Lumpur City Hall officers will check houses for larvae of aedes mosquitoes, the carriers of dengue virus, at night from Wednesday since day-time visits are usually aborted by locked gates.
Datuk Bandar Datuk Ruslin Hassan said the inspections would be made from 6pm to 10pm.
“We hope the public will not be alarmed by our night-time visits. Our officers will wear a special City Hall uniform and the public can ask for their authority cards to check their identities if there is any doubt,” he said at a media conference Sunday after taking part in a gotong royong clean-up as part of the ongoing activities to prevent the spread of dengue.
Ruslin said the night inspection would start in Kampung Baru before moving on to other parts of the city.
The maximum compound of RM500 might be imposed for each breeding ground of aedes in residential houses and RM1,000 for construction sites, he said.
This month, the number of suspected dengue fever cases reported in the city climbed from 197 in the first week to 237 in the fourth week.
During the period, there were 25 confirmed dengue cases and four deaths.

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Malaysia has network to monitor bird flu

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has a reliable network of clinics and hospitals to monitor cases of influenza and avian flu, said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek.
He said the network comprised 135 hospitals and almost 4,000 clinics.
“If the increase (in flu cases) is dramatic, they would report to the state-level disease control division, and then to the national level,” he told reporters after presenting Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points and Halal certifications to Sime Oleander Sdn Bhd here yesterday.
Dr Chua said Malaysia was on high alert for avian flu following fears that the country would be exposed to the disease after nine deaths were reported in Vietnam since Dec 30.
“When a place has an increase of influenza-like symptoms, we will send a public health team to investigate,” he said.
Dr Chua added that surveillance, which had two parts, would be carried out.
He said passive surveillance was compulsory reporting of cases while active monitoring would include examining everyone within a 1km radius.
“Each state has the facilities to make visits, and workers who are exposed to the disease are advised to wear gloves and face masks,” Dr Chua said, adding that his ministry was working closely with the Agriculture Ministry on the matter.

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Four New Measles Cases In Sarawak

KOTA SAMARAHAN, Jan 28 (Bernama) — Four new measles cases have been reported in the Penan community in Sungai Asap, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan said Friday.
Three of the cases were admitted to the Bintulu Hospital yesterday evening and one this morning,” he said, adding that all four were adults.
This brought to 11 the number of patients still under treatment, he told reporters after making an official visit to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) here.
Asked to comment on a news report today that four Penan had died in the measles outbreak in two settlements in Belaga district in the last few days, Dr Chan said that this was not confirmed yet.
He gave an assurance that the situation was under control.

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‘Breast cancer survivors to ‘walk with pride’ on July 31

KUALA LUMPUR: Being a breast cancer survivor herself, Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood knows that it is possible to fight the disease.
This is why the chairman of Yayasan Budi Penyayang Malaysia (Penyayang) will lend her support to a charity fashion show co-organised by Pink Ribbon Deeds (PRIDE), Penyayang and University of Bristol Alumni Association.
Called Walk with Pride, the event will be launched by Endon on July 31 and will see breast cancer survivors parade in fashionable outfits by local and international designers.
Endon, who is the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said she had attended a similar event in London last October held by Breast Cancer Care and she was moved by the event.
“Being a survivor myself, I found the fashion show to be uplifting and personally moving.

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Blood bank needs to shore up platelet supplies

KUALA LUMPUR: The blood supply at the National Blood Centre will dry up if blood donations stop for just two days.
It is, therefore, urgently appealing to the public to donate more blood.
Platelets is a component of human blood needed to stop internal and external bleeding. As of yesterday, there were 398 units of platelets stored at the centre.
“We usually maintain a supply of at least 400 units of platelets daily but with dengue cases going up, we would prefer to play it safe,” its deputy-director Dr Norhanim Asidin said yesterday.
“They are required to stop internal bleeding in dengue victims, but the cells only live for five days,” she said yesterday .