Page 99 - ANUAL REPORT MOH 2017

Of the 214 new cases registered in 2017, 72 per cent were male and 28 per cent female. 6 per cent
of all the cases were children aged 0 to 14 years old. New leprosy cases among children indicate the
occurrence of recent or active disease transmission in local community. However, no new cases among
children detected with Grade 2 Deformity.

There were 74 cases of leprosy among Non-Malaysian in 2017 (35 per cent from total cases).
Persistently high cases detected among Non-Malaysian especially from Indonesia, Philippines and
Nepal which contribute 91 per cent of new cases in 2018.

Since leprosy cases not always being detected in most of our community, leprosy tend to be neglected
compare to other common diseases. There are still reported cases of grade 2 deformity due to delay in
detection and treatment every year. In 2017, there were 8 cases of Grade 2 Deformity reported Sabah
(3), Selangor (2), Perlis (2) and Labuan (1).

• National Leprosy Programme/Activities
Early diagnosis and complete treatment with MDT remain the key strategies for reducing disease burden
due to leprosy. Our new National Strategic Plans (NSP) to Control Leprosy (2016- 2020) has been
adapting WHO - Global Leprosy Strategy (2016 -2020) to further reduce leprosy burden in Malaysia.
The NSP shall become a national guiding principle in control of leprosy towards achieving Malaysia
Free Leprosy. Two (2) manual books were issued in 2017 in achieving this aim.

VECTOR BORNE DISEASE SECTOR
• Dengue Control Program in Malaysia
There are reported 83,849 dengue cases with 177 deaths in the year 2017, a decrease of 17.2 per
cent of cases and 25.3 per cent of deaths as compared to the previous year. This is the second year
in a row dengue cases had been reduced since its peak in the year 2015. In 2017, the incidence is
258 cases per 100,000 populations, while the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 0.21 per cent, a slight
reduction compared to the previous year (0.23 per cent). The dengue outbreak localities also have
shown downtrend pattern, in which 314 localities registered at the end of 2017, as compared to 698
localities registered in August 2017. From our observation noted a shift in Dengue serotype in the
year 2017 where DEN3 was more dominated at the early if the year and shifted to DEN2 at the end
of the year.

• Integrated Management
The remarkable accomplishment is the result of concentrated action from the various ministries, agencies
as well as communities and people through the formation of National Dengue Special Task Force which
was established in July 2014. The objective is to move the agency and society in the prevention and
control of dengue. The task force included ministries from Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Housing
and Local Government, Ministry of Human Resource, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education,
Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Works and Ministry of Communication &
Multimedia, including Local Authorities. All partners have their own jurisdictions which are beyond the
health sector to deploy the strategy in combating dengue infection.

98 ANNUAL REPORT 2017 MINISTRY OF HEALTH MALAYSIA