Page 131 - ANUAL REPORT MOH 2017

Table 31 showed that Visual Acuity Defect as the most common health problem detected with prevalence
of 63.4, 25.4 and 27.1 for every 1,000 standard 1, standard 6 and form 3 examined. The reduction in
trend of detection for standard 6 and Form 3 indicates that students may have received intervention
after being detected during the year 1.

Health problems related to personal hygiene, such as head lice and scabies are still occurring in
Malaysia, especially among primary school children. The trend decreases when students enter
secondary school.

Table 31
Prevalence Of Morbidity For Every 1,000 Students Examined
Standard 1 Standard 1 Form 3
Morbidity
2015 2016 2017 2015 2016 2017 2015 2016 2017
Visual Acuity Defect 53.8 59.5 63.4 37.7 38.1 25.4 30.3 25.4 27.1
Scabies 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.6 1.3 1.0 0.8 0.9
Head Lice 29.5 27.4 23.4 24.7 25.3 22.3 6.1 6.2 4.7
Other Skin diseases 12.9 12.5 11.6 20.5 19.5 18.9 13.1 14.1 11.1

Source: Health Informatics Centre, MoH (2017)
A total of 3205 Year 3 school children were diagnosed to have learning disability in 2017. Of these,
school children with Intellectual Disability had the highest incidence followed by those with Specific
Learning Disability, Multiple type of Disability and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. Since 2013
until 2017, intellectual disability has been the most common type of learning disability detected and
diagnosed among school children.

SCHOOL HEALTH IMMUNISATION SERVICES

HPV immunization for Form 1 pupils began in 2010 with the goal of preventing cervical cancer amongst
HPV immunization recipients. The trend of parental consent exceeding 98.0 per cent since 2012. The
immunization coverage for dose 1 and complete immunization among those with written permission
remained above 99 per cent since 2012. In 2017 the DT and MR booster immunization coverage for
Standard 1 and ATT booster immunization coverage for Form 3 students exceeded than 95 per cent.

FORM 4 THALASSAEMIA SCREENING

Form 4 Thalassaemia screening was introduced in 2016 with the intention to increase number of
students who were aware of their thalassemia status and hence prevent carrier marriage among this
population. In 2017, of the total of 408,899 Form 4 students enrolled with the Ministry of Education,
302,091 students (74.0 per cent) were offered Thalassaemia screening. A total of 255,545 or 84.6
per cent of the parents agreed for their children to be screened. Among those with parental consent,
242,794 students (95.1 per cent) were screened. Johor and Perak were two states with the lowest
coverage while Perlis, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak and Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan managed to offer
thalassaemia screening to all Form 4 students in their state.

It was found that 25.3 per cent of students were identified as suspected carrier and Sabah, Kedah
and Perlis showed higher number of students at risk of thalassaemia carrier. Based on the screening

130 ANNUAL REPORT 2017 MINISTRY OF HEALTH MALAYSIA