Sarawak needs its own laboratory to diagnose epidemic diseases – BorneoPost Online | Borneo, Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News

KUCHING: A public health laboratory should be set up for Sarawak to diagnose and deal with any form of epidemic disease, including rabies [19659003] Public Health Dr. Annuar Rapaee is currently saying, all specimens should be sent to the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) to confirm an illness.

"Even though Unimas (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak) has the capacity, his lab is not recognized to give confirmation and we are working with the Ministry of Health to recognize a center that is able to diagnose and confirm diseases like rabies, "he said at a press conference at the Legislative Assembly Complex yesterday

. confirm the rabies, specimens are sent to (Institute of Veterinary Research) Ipoh at the present time, which requires more time. We are currently setting up a laboratory that should be operational in one or two months. Once ready, we will no longer need to send to Ipoh. "

He said that an epidemiology unit already exists in the health department of Sarawak in each divisional health office, which reports to the department's Communicable Disease Control Section." epidemiology is the branch of medicine that deals with the statistics, incidence, distribution and possible control of diseases and has nothing to do with the diagnosis and the treatment of diseases, "he explains

. crucial right now. What is more crucial, it is a public health laboratory to deal with any form of epidemic in Sarawak. "

Responded to See Chee How (PKR-Batu Lintang) on ​​the latest outbreaks of rabies in Sarawak and whether the Sarawak government has planned with the federal government to establish epidemiological units in Sarawak hospitals to diagnose, treat and prevent the emergence and spread of infectious diseases.

Dr. Annuar added that five Sarawak divisions have been infected with rabies Serian, Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman and Sarikei.

" As of 4 July, 33 localities in Sarawak have been declared rabies outbreak areas, based on cases of canine rabies detected by the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), "he said.

human resources, including specialists, consultants and physicians trained in hospitals, clinics and veterinary clinics in Sarawak to diagnose, treat and prevent the spread of rabies and others Dr. Annuar said that a significant number of people belonging to multidisciplinary departments are needed to combat and eliminate rabies.

"To fight rabies, he does not depend solely on medical but multidisciplinary departments, including veterinary ones, he explained:" On the medical side, we already have doctors in clinics knowledgeable about how to manage stray dogs. bites and referrals. Regarding the vaccination of dogs, it is important that the veterinary department has more staff to vaccinate dogs because the ideal is to vaccinate 70% of the canine population. "

He pointed out that Sarawak does not have a database

At the moment, there is a regulation that requires all owners to register their pets or to deal with an action

"All this must be together that we are able to fight diseases." Sarawak has been declared a rabies-infected area since July 1 of last year.

"What is more important in rabies, it is not the treatment but the prevention, which is the vaccination. he is almost deadly already because there is no treatment, "he warned.

He added that the public was aware of what to do when it was bitten by dogs.

"You must follow the running water procedures and immediately come to the hospitals and clinics where the patient will receive the vaccination injection after being assessed correctly," he stressed. "

" The public should not be worried because vaccination is enough. Participants at the press conference included Dr. Jamilah Hashim, Director of the Sarawak Department of Health, Acting Director of Sarawak's Department of Veterinary Services, Dr. Adrian Susin Ambud, and the Ministry of Labor. Cheong Yaw Liang, Head of Public Health Government and Housing