Posted on April 17, 2011, Sunday

SANDAKAN: Public or private health centres should play their role in detecting and controlling any initial spread of malaria and tuberculosis.

“As they are a public health problem, early detection becomes a priority in treating the diseases,” said Libaran member of parliament Datuk Juslie Ajirol when officiating at the Sandakan-level World Tuberculosis Day and Malaria Day celebration at Taman Cahaya, Mile 12, yesterday.

He said statistics showed that each year around the world, nine million people were infected with TB virus while two million had died from contracting the disease.

Juslie said TB cases in Malaysia were usually detected late or on a serious level as people prefer to seek traditional treatment rather than the effective modern medicine.

He said general and private medical centres play a vital role as their efforts coincide with the theme “Mobile to prevent Tuberculosis … Transformation towards the Elimination” in which it is important to educate the community on the disease.

“It is sad to hear that there are still individuals seeking medical advice from a traditional medical practitioner over symptoms such as blood coughing, weight loss and loss of appetite.

“It is important for patients with the symptoms to undergo proper diagnosis and treatment,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said malaria is a disease caused by the “plasmodium” parasite that spreads through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito parasites (sporozoites).

“This disease can lead to complications such as liver and kidney dysfunctional and destroy red blood cells,” he said.

Juslie said malaria is a disease that can be prevented, treated and controlled with the increasing use of mosquito nets and other proven interventions as a part of the integrated community-based programmes.