Health Ministry to consider rabies treatment medical research

KUCHING: The Health Ministry would consider proposals from universities or the industrial sector to conduct medical science research on the treatment of rabies, particularly in Sarawak, said deputy minister Dr Lee Boon Chye.

He said the ministry was taking the rabies or ‘Mad Dog’ epidemic – declared as a Stage Two Disaster in Sarawak that had recorded 16 fatalities – seriously.

“We are keeping track of the data with regard to the number of (rabies) cases, percentage of animals carrying the virus, and we hope all dog owners who love their dogs, would get them vaccinated,” he told reporters after opening of the Fourth International Conference on Advances in Medical Science 2019 here yesterday, conducted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

Among other things, his ministry would target to open up 15 more dog-bite Cclinics in early June this year, in addition to the existing 10 clinics to overcome the rabies outbreak in Sarawak.

The federal government had also spent more than RM2 million for the rabies vaccine injected on dogs in Sarawak.

On various police reports lodged by the public relating to the anti-rabies operation in Padawan recently, Dr Lee said the ministry would get the relevant authorities to investigate the matter.

“The authorities and enforcement units have a standard operating procedure (SOP), which requires them not to encroach on private properties, including residential areas to catch a dog,” he said, referring to the arrest of a man who was allegedly trying to obstruct a team from carrying out their duties, on April 7.

Dr Lee said at present, the ministry had special allocations to conduct medical science research that focused on tropical diseases, including the control of dengue infection in collaboration with local universities and institutions. —Bernama