Leprosy

The World Health Organisation announced in 1994 that leprosy has been eliminated in Malaysia. But that does not mean that the country has no leprosy cases. The Health Ministry’s data also shows that the number of new cases had risen to 308 in 2014 from 244 cases a decade before. The reason for this rise has been attributed to the inflow of foreign workers as about half of these cases were detected among immigrants. We get more details from Dr Mohamed Naim Abdul Kadir, Head of TB and Leprosy Sector, Disease Control Division, Health Ministry.