PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry said there were 26,168 recorded cases of tuberculosis (TB) last year. That’s an eight per cent increase from 24,220 cases recorded in 2015.
“The TB fatality rate in 2015 was 5.5 for every 100,000 population and this increased to 6.8 for every 100,000 population last year.
The ministry said today 3,133 involved foreigners and 23,035 involved Malaysians.
The ministry said there was a downward trend in the incidence of leprosy from 2014 to 2016, and an upward trend last year.
“There were 308 reported leprosy cases in 2014, 210 in 2015 and 206 in 2016. Last year, it increased by 3.8 per cent to 214 cases.
Thirteen of the new cases, or six per cent, involved children and eight new cases, or 3.7 per cent, were those with Grade 2 disabilities (G2D).
G2D refers to visible disabilities, damage to hands and feet and severe vision impairment.
Three of the eight new G2D leprosy cases recorded last year were in Sabah, two in Selangor, two in Perlis and one in Labuan.
There were 74 leprosy cases involving foreigners last year and 140 cases involving Malaysians.
The ministry stressed that early detection was crucial for the managenent and prevention of the spread of TB and leprosy.
“TB patients must complete the whole course of treatment for at least six months and for leprosy between six and 18 months.
“TB patients who stop treatment can spread the disease again and there were 1,226 of such cases in 2016.”
The importance of early detection and completion of treatment, the ministry added, was in line with the theme of this year’s National TB and Leprosy Day today.
The World Health Organisation estimates that there were 10.4 million TB cases worldwide in 2016 and 1.3 million fatalities due to the disease.