BUDGET: Dengue 'test kit' reduces clinic dependence on labs for blood tests

Head of the vector-borne diseases sector at the Health Ministry's disease control unit, Dr Rose Nani Mudin, said the move would also drastically reduce the time to diagnose the disease.

"Prior to this, it takes at least one day for a private clinic to obtain the result of the diagnosis because the blood samples of the patients have to be sent to laboratories which might be far away.

"But, with the test kit available, the clinic can do the blood test and is able to get the result within 20 minutes," she said when contacted by Bernama here today.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, when tabling the Budget 2015 at the Dewan Rakyat today, announced an allocation of RM30 million for the distribution of the dengue test kits free of charge to private clinics to expedite early dengue detection process.

Dr Rose Nani said that based on latest statistics, a total of 79,720 cases of dengue had been recorded nationwide this year as of last Oct 8, compared with 24,612 cases during the corresponding period last year.

She said a total of 149 deaths due to dengue had been reported this year, from only 54 cases last year.

Meanwhile, Universiti Malaysia deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Innovation), Professor Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud said the announcement on the RM 23.3 billion allocation for the implementation of various health services and facilities was good news.

However, he said, emphasis should be given to disease prevention measures considering that many Malaysians were diagnosed with diabetes, high blood and heart diseases.

Kuala Lumpur Heart Care medical director, Prof Datuk Dr. Mohamed Rafeq Ibrahim Marican said the RM45.4 million allocation to provide medicines for patients undergoing chronic and acute haemodialysis treatment was apt.