Influenza A: Compulsory to fill health form

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: From next week, anyone flying into Malaysia will have to fill up a mandatory health declaration form which will be given to them onboard.
Failure to fill the form and provide health particulars could result in a jail term of up to two years and fine of up to RM10,000.
This was among a list of stringent measures announced by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday to curb the spread of influenza A (H1N1) locally.
The disease infected its 25th Malaysian victim yesterday, a 22-year-old female student who tested positive for the disease and is now warded at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh.
Muhyiddin, after chairing the National Inter-ministerial Committee on Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic at Parliament yesterday, said the ruling to fill the health declaration form would be gazetted next week.
Present at the meeting were Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican and Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen.
"Travellers, including Malaysians returning from abroad, will have to fill up their personal particulars, including flight and seat numbers and submit the forms to health officers at the airports.
"Currently, it is not mandatory to fill the form and it's only done on a voluntary basis. This began a few months ago. Today, we agreed that the ruling making it mandatory be gazetted," Leow said.
This, he said, was apart from the thermal scanning of passengers returning from H1N1-affected countries.
"Mandatory health declarations have been implemented in countries with H1N1. We hope to get the cooperation of everyone on this."
The mandatory ruling is among 10 steps outlined by the committee to tackle the pandemic. It came after the country recorded its first locally-transmitted influenza A (H1N1) case involving a 17-year-old girl from Petaling Jaya on Wednesday.
Muhyiddin also said "social distancing", such as closing down of schools and cancelling gatherings, would only be implemented by the National Security Council.
"This will only be done after we (the government) decide to do so. We do not give the mandate to schools or departments to implement it. The decision will be made by the council."

The other steps taken are:
- Health officers deployed on board aircraft to scan body temperatures of passengers coming in from the United States, Melbourne (Australia) and Manila (the Philippines);
- Transport operators are required to have masks for passengers with H1N1 symptoms and those sitting three seats in front and behind them;
- Local authorities to tighten existing law and increase enforcement to make sure public toilets are clean;
- Giving influenza vaccines to high-risk groups to reduce infection risks;
- Front-liners to take care of their health and wear appropriate clothes to prevent infections;
- Limiting the number of visitors to hospitals and discouraging children under 12 from visiting;
- Scanning for body temperature at public and private hospitals; and,
- Media campaigns by Information, Communications and Culture Ministry to increase awareness.