More Hospitals To Have Isolation Ward For Communicable Diseases

ENANG, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry will turn 20 more hospitals into isolation centres for communicable diseases especially bird flu as a pre-emptive measure against an epidemic.
The ministry's Parliamentary Secretary Datuk Lee Kah Choon said 21 of over 126 government hospitals nationwide had already been turned into such centres and they had the facilities to control the disease.
"As we have the experience and special mechanism in handling cases relating to the nipah virus and SARS, we are well prepared," he told reporters after opening the library of Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Convent Datuk Keramat, here Saturday.
He was commenting on steps taken by the government to guard against a possible epidemic of bird flu that has hit several countries including Malaysia's neighbours.
Pre-emptive measures were necessary due to the possible movement of infected poultry and birds across borders, he said.
Lee said Malaysia would send a delegation to a World Health Organisation conference in Beijing, China, next Tuesday and Wednesday on the potentially deadly disease.
The delegation, headed by Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, would comprise several officers from Muhyiddin's ministry and the Health Ministry as well as Lee.
"We will cooperate with the world community in monitoring health issues and carrying out prevention efforts against communicable diseases from spreading into the country," he said.