Polio hits Malaysia
For 27-years Malaysia was free from polio, but, in December 2019, the Health Ministry in Malaysia confirmed its first new case. A three-month-old boy experiencing fever and weakness of limbs was admitted to intensive care where he was confirmed to be infected with a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1). The boy had received his […]
Floods in Jakarta – A healthcare priority
The New Year saw torrential rainfall across Jakarta that triggered floods in all five municipalities. Of the 268 flooding spots flagged by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management, 158 were in Jakarta. TIME magazine reported that Jakarta’s rainfall alone was equivalent to 72,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. Images can be seen across the media of […]
New lung epidemic on the rise
In good news, many countries have started to experience falling smoking rates – according to Nielsen cigarette sales volume slipped 11.2 percent worldwide in the four-week period ending May 2018. But many Southeast Asian countries are still struggling to curb smoking and, to make matters worse, tobacco companies have been pushing new vapour (e-cigarette) products that smokers […]
