No disease outbreak, says Chua

Star: JOHOR BARU: There was no outbreak of infectious disease among flood victims, and Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek described this as an achievement because the floods affected a large number of people.
“Until today, there has been no incident of infection through water or food,” he told reporters after a visit to the Sultan Ismail Hospital in Pandan yesterday.
Dr Chua said that as of Dec 26, most of the 4,582 flood victims who received medical care were there for follow-up treatment.
“Thirty-seven people were also hospitalised, but they comprised pregnant mothers, those with high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney or heart problems,” he said.
Although the flood situation has shown overall improvement, Dr Chua said the ministry still had 453 health and medical teams to provide assistance as Pahang, Johor, Kedah and Kelantan were still under high alert for floods.
“We still have about 20 small health clinics closed but operations at the Pekan Hospital have resumed and all repairs will be done immediately,” he said.
Dr Chua also said the ministry did not just provide medical attention, but also monitored food cleanliness at evacuation centres.
On a separate matter, Dr Chua said although Sultan Ismail Hospital had been open for the last one year, only 60% of the beds were used due to manpower shortage.
“We hope to fill up the vacancies in stages,” he said, adding that the hospital would also begin offering traditional medicine, including herbal and acupuncture treatment, early next year in cooperation with Nanjing University in China.