Malaysia joins global community to fight neglected tropical diseases
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has joined this year’s World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Day along with 23 other nations worldwide for global solidarity to ending NTDs and freeing the next generation from diseases of poverty.
The Ministry of Health’s (MOH) statement yesterday said Malaysia, although an upper middle-income country, is not free of NTDs, citing that the mosquito-borne viral infection, dengue, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Malaysia.
“In 2019, there were over 130,000 dengue cases, a rise of 61 per cent from 2018 (Crisis Preparedness Response Centre (CPRC), MOH Malaysia, 2018).
“It is estimated that NTDs infect over 1.7 billion people or 24 per cent of the world’s population. Malaysia joining in solidarity will help attract more attention to the plight and struggle of the communities living with the daily threat of NTDs,” the statement read.
Untreated NTDs lead to cognitive impairment and developmental disabilities, and severe forms can cause malnutrition and death, it said. Meanwhile, the statement said global attention had been focused on Covid-19, however, the crisis has also diverted resources and attention away from other critical global health issues like NTDs, further exacerbating the health risks to already vulnerable populations.
“We all need to leverage on big data analytics and multi-sectoral evidence-based programmes to eradicate NTDs,” Deputy DirectorGeneral of Health (Research & Technical Support) Dr Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim was quoted as saying in the statement.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus yesterday launched the “Ending the neglect to attain the Sustainable Development Goals: a road map for NTDs 2021-2030”.
Hence, there is opportunity to apply the unprecedented collaboration around Covid-19 to address NTDs and this includes cross-sector, cross-industry partnerships, building strong political will and generating resources necessary to reach the last mile, the statement read.