The New Straits Times, January 15, 1998
By Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
To the prophets of doom, 1997 in Malaysia was perhaps a perfect example of what the worst can bring on almost all fronts - economic, environmental, social and health.
Its effects on the first three was plain for all to see, if not experience. Economic gloom is fast setting in amidst the fear of increasing prices and scarcity of essential goods.Environmentally, too, the situation was bad, albeit more transient in nature. But the impact was no less vivid.
The events and issues affecting health were no less colourful. There was no shortage of surpirses ranging from Coxsackie to poisoning of all kinds - tobacco, food, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, smog and what have you.
Here are some of the trends and highlights of local as well as international events that took place last year, on a quarterly basis.
The first quarter was dominated by the events surrounding tobacco. In early January, the Health Ministry announced plans to gazette more no-smoking areas. It also amended the Tobacco Products Control Registration 1993 to prohibit those under 18 years of age from smoking, chewing tobacco and possessing cigarettes.
Also in January, Sabah was put on a cholera alert, and other possible water-borne diseases like typhoid and hepatitis A. In Bukit Mertajam, Penang, 22 pupils came down with food poisoning. In the next two months, food poisoning cases continued to be reported in Sarawak, Klang, Penang and Terengganu.
Other causes of water pollution were reported in Penang, where about 3,000 residents in Teluk Bahang were allegedly sick due to diesel contaminated drinking water. In Penang, too, fish and freshwater prawns were found dead in the Prai river, believed to be caused by toxic waste discharge.
Animals were not spared from poisoning. In Penang 42 pigs were poisoned by weedkiller added to the feed by a disgruntled worker, while in Gopeng, 12 buffaloes died mysteriously, claimed to be poisoned.
The second quarter saw more cases of food poisoning. On Penang island, 60 pupils were hit by food poisoning; in Bukit Mertajam, 14 pupils; and in Muar, eight trainee nurses came down with food poisoning after a roti canai breakfast. In Kedah, 26 pupils had food poisoning after eating nasi kerabu hitam. Sabah experienced another cholera outbreak in Semporna and Tawau.
The Coxsackie disease emerged unexpectedly in May and claimed 29 lives, mainly children below five, by the end of June. Most of the victims were from Sarawak.
Animals too continued to suffer. This time, six cows were poisoned in Malim Nawar, and six more in Ipoh. Meanwhile, under new regulations on hazardous materials, dangerous chemicals used locally will have to be classified, packaged and labelled.
Between July and September, Coxsackie claimed 31 victims in Kuching. The cause could not be confirmed. Some suspected environmental factors.
More schoolchildren were affected by food poisoning - 23 pupils in Klang, after eating nasi minyak and later, another 86 in Shah Alam, Selangor.
In August, the 10th World Conference on Tobacco or Health was held in China. It gave revised figures of about 100 million deaths expected by the year 2010, mostly in developing countries. All governments were urged to take action.
The weight of this warning was further felt in September when researchers found more evidence that smoking causes genetic changes which predispose a person to cancer. In September too, the International Olympic Council (IOC) planned to crack down on TV stations, mostly in Asia, which run tobacco advertisements during the Olympic telecast.
The effects of the "transboundary haze" were beginning to be felt when about 800 patients were treated for respiratory-related ailments at the end of August. This problem dominated September with Sarawak being the worst hit. The state Air Pollutant Index registered an all-time high of 839.
Meanwhile. the Department of Environment released a report that motor vehicles were identified as the major contributor to air pollution in 1996. About 2.4 million tonnes of carbon monoxide was emitted, 457.9 thousand tonnes hydrocarbon, 146.3 thousand tonnes of nitrogen oxide and 19 thousand tonnes of particulate matters were released into the air each year.
The government was also asked to monitor the content in consumer products like paint on toys, colouring material and stationery, and also places of work where the material are made. Earlier, the national Poison Centre at Universiti Sains Malaysia reported a study done in Jelutong showing possible lead exposure to pre-school children. Other universities, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malayia, showed similar concern in separate studies.
After relative quiet, food poisoning cases occurred again in Kuantan, when 45 students fell ill because of canteen food. Of these, 34 were hospitalised. In Perak, 106 pupils also went down with food poisoning after drinking milk supplied by the school. The overall situation on food poisoning was amply summarised by the State Health Department in Negeri Sembilan. The department expressed concern over the quality of food sold in schools and colleges. It said that over 128 cases of food poisoning had occurred in these places.
In November, cholera reared its head again. This time, 32 people were admitted to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital with nine confirmed cases. About a month later, 47 cases were confirmed.
Meanwhile, findings reported that of the 27 drinking water sources in Selangor, 23 were heavily polluted with industrial and animal waste, metal and sewage. The latest was a spillage of 6,000 litres of diesel in the Sungai Langat treatment plant. In Kajang, a private doctor claimed to have treated about 30 patients with kidney disease at the clinic. She was concern over environmental pollution, and suspected links to heavy metals such as lead, nickel, cadmium and mercury in the water.
In mid-December, fishermen in Penang complained that the wastes of 6,000 pigs containing antibiotics (ampicillin and amoxycillin) were discharged into the surrounding water.
Two chemical storage tanks exploded in Sarawak, just around Christmas, sending a dark cloud of smoke into the air. Fortunately, there was no immediate casualty.
The incidents outllined above could just be the tip of the iceberg. Their impact can be worsened by the current economic downturn because any threat to health will invariably mean a drain on economic resources.
Unfortunately, their effect on are not obvious - not like the falling ringgit, the engulfing smog, or even battered children. The toll on health is, in fact, insidious. In today's "instant" world, health, in general, lacks currency and urgency to be worthy of any degree of seriousness.
However, people are beginning to run back to the public health service when once they were willing to debunk it as "inconvenient", "congested" and "inefficient".
It is therefore time to re-examine the situation before we take a big plunge into the next millennium.
