No need for health screening

Star: Malaysia has no plan to introduce health screening for people coming from countries hit by bird flu in the absence of proof of human-to-human transmission of the virus.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said there was as yet no need for such screening as was the case during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) scare.
“People must have a correct perspective of avian flu – it is a disease transmitted by chickens or other poultry.
“If it is proven that the disease can be transmitted between humans, which I hope will never happen, that would be a different story,” he said yesterday on his arrival here for a one-day visit.
Dr Chua said the Government had formulated various measures to deal with the disease should an outbreak occur.
He said the 21 hospitals nationwide designated as avian flu treatment centres would have facilities such as isolation wards, while the Institute for Medical Research was fully prepared to test those infected.
The ministry, he added, was planning to acquire the drug oseltamivir, also known as Tamiflu, for treatment of avian flu.
Dr Chua said based on World Health Organisation guidelines, about a quarter of a country’s population would be struck by avian flu should there be a worldwide pandemic.
It would cost the Government an estimated RM400mil just to stock enough Tamiflu supplies for that many people, he added.