KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry will conduct an official visit to Sarawak next month to resolve the rabies outbreak in the state.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said the visit would involve meetings and collaboration with the state government to find a solution to control the disease.
“The director general has issued a statement that there have been 16 cases and 15 deaths due to rabies (since June last year).
“We look at this matter seriously. There are several areas in Sarawak, except for Limbang, which has been declared rabies-infected areas.
“Our ministry will conduct a work visit to the state next month to collaborate and discuss the outbreak with the state government. We want to solve the issue,” he said at a press conference at the (National Heart Institute) IJN-PNB Imaging Centre launching ceremony here today.
Also present at the launching programme were Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) group chairman Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, IJN chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Azhari Yakub, chairman Tan Sri Dr Mohd Nasir Mohd Ashraf and PNB president and group chief executive Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad.
Lee said it was important to ensure that dogs were vaccinated.
He said the ministry had received a report that only one third of the dogs had been vaccinated.
“The vaccination of dogs is not under our ministry but under the state veterinary department.
“That is where cooperation of the state veterinary department is crucial in ensuring that we can control the rabies epidemic,” he said.
The Health Department recently declared that another death due to the disease had been recorded, taking the total fatalities to 15 since June last year.
Its director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in a statement issued here, said the latest death involved a 64-year-old man from Kuching.
The IJN today launched improved Scanning and Imaging technology, as a part of efforts as a centre of excellence in cardiac imaging.
With the new Position Emission Tomography (PET)- Computed Tomography (CT) scanner IJN will be able to offer more accurate and comprehensive assessment of the cardiovascular system.
“We would also like to thank PNB for allocating an amount of RM30 million for IJN’s new machines.