The A (H1N1) flu pandemic toll in Malaysia jumped by four in the past 24 hours from nine to 13.
The latest fatality is six-year-old Mohd Hyafiq Aiman Mohd Saiful Afendi, first death from Pahang, who died at 12.40 pm yesterday after he was admitted to the Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA) Hospital, Kuantan after he developed fever and complained of stomach ache.
The other three latest confirmed A (H1N1) deaths were a three-year-old girl, 12-year-old boy and a 20-year man – all from Malacca.
Since the first case of A (H1N1) flu death two weeks ago on July 23 – a 30-year-old Indonesian – the rate of fatality has increased in pace and numbers, as illustrated by the following table of fatalities:
July 23 – 1 (KL)
July 27 – 1 (Subang Jaya)
July 28 – 1 (KL)
July 29 – 1 (Malacca)
Aug 2 – 2 (KL, Bagan Serai Perak)
Aug 3 – 3 (Malacca, Seremban, Sarawak)
Aug 4 – 2 (both Malacca)
Aug 5 – 2 (Pahang, Batu Pahat Johore)
Total – 13
Malaysians have been asked to access the Ministry of Health website at www.moh.gov.my for the latest update and advice on the A (H1N1) pandemic.
I have received complaints that the Malaysian Ministry of Health website is often not accessible. I tried to access it yesterday and this morning and it just would not load. There is no problem with other Ministry websites which I also tried, whether ministries of transport, education, higher education or international trade and industry.
Has the Ministry of Health website also become a fatal casualty of the A (H1N1) pandemic?
The Ministry of Health dedicated website on A (H1N1) pandemic does not inspire confidence that the Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai is providing the necessary leadership to inform, educate and mobilize Malaysians against the killer flu pandemic, especially when it is such a dismal failure in the most important task of communication of the pandemic to the Malaysian public.
#1 by taiking on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 8:27 am
They are fighting a mutant viral strain currently dubbed pkfz.
#2 by izrafeil on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 9:23 am
YB Lim,
On the slow web response that generally plague government websites, my observations are as follows;
a) the opening page is designed with too much banners and animation
b) some even with background music
This is indeed very slow. I have written to some telling that such programs gobble up bandwith, but no action is taken.
My view is that, its best for them to copy banks websites, practical, informative and to the point, after all, the main purpose is for public to access information and give feedback.
Hope someone somewhere, government servants are listening and taking note.
Really
#3 by ekompute on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 9:34 am
Well, the purpose of bank websites to provide service. Malaysian government websites, they have a different function. In fact, if you are impatient, it is better for them. At least you know that they have a website, but you don’t know that there is nothing much inside. Thus, the homepage is very sophisticated, with the latest bells and whistles.
#4 by rasyid on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 9:35 am
good one taiking….
#5 by k1980 on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 9:36 am
The rakyat needs a total revamp of all the cabinet ministers, especially the pm. After winning the 13 GE, PR must dump the “1MALAYsia” gimmick and replace it with the much better “Malaysia 2.0”
#6 by bentoh on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 10:21 am
Few weeks ago health minister declared alongside with WHO that our country go into “mitigation phase” for A(H1N1)…
I wonder if it was killing phase instead of mitigation phase…
#7 by raven77 on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 10:33 am
There is no one in charge of this Ministry essentially….
Unlike the US, Australia, UK and many European countries where Health issues are of great importance and prominence…..this is not the case in Malaysia …
Which is why it has been given to the MCA….
#8 by nckeat88 on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 10:39 am
I have no problem assess and download the guideline of H1N1 from MOH website. Maybe LKS is too stupid to use computer and should ask help from his IT team before blaming others.
#9 by HJ Angus on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 10:48 am
If you need a few precautions, this is my blog entry.
Everyone needs to cooperate to help reduce the spread of this pandemic. If you are home quarantined, avoid going out especially to crowded places.
http://malaysiawatch4.blogspot.com/2009/07/malaysiakini-and-spread-of-ah1n1how-to.html
#10 by OrangRojak on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 11:35 am
The H1N1 link on the front page of MOH website (hosted by TM HOSTING SERVICES) is a link to a different server: h1n1.moh.gov.my (hosted by Government Integrated Telecommunication Network (GITN)).
It’s painfully slow, and has only once partially loaded the first page after a handful of failed attempts. Perhaps there just isn’t much server resource left after they put DR’s web up?
I’d still like to see PR’s (or even DAP’s, since PR doesn’t really exist) attempt. There’s no need for a website, what should be there is a PDF (so it’s printable) in the 3 main languages, and English for visitors … and me.
That h1n1 server is another example of utter IT incompetence, but don’t worry, Rais Yatim is about to filter everything (according to The Malaysian Insider) so we can only see the 1Malaysia website, for harmony.
#11 by HJ Angus on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 11:41 am
Maybe that’s how the filter will work – the Info Minister will ask the MSM to stop all stories about how A(H1N1) is killing Malaysians and the sorry state of affairs in the Health Ministry.
They have just extended housemanship by another year – maybe to give newbies more time to learn about treatment.
Singapore has even distributed to every HDB flat the MoH’s advice in the usual 4 languages.
#12 by OrangRojak on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 11:58 am
I notice that http://www.malaysia.gov.my has no mention of H1N1 on its front page, when it eventually loads. Why does it take so much longer to load our own government website than a foreign one?. Check the UK government’s website: H1N1 front and centre: http://www.direct.gov.uk
I notice that the main advice is to have a ‘flu friend’ to go to collect prescriptions and a phone number to report flu to. I wasn’t the only one who thought it was a bad idea to tell sick people to go and stand in crowds of other sick people then.
#13 by yhsiew on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 12:07 pm
In view of the rapid increase in mortality rates caused by A(H1N1), the Ministry of Health can consider sending the patient’s throat swabs to WHO to test for mutation of the virus.
#14 by Cinapek on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 12:38 pm
I was appalled to read in the STAR today the excuse given by the Health DG Tan Sri Ismail Merican why not all patients with flu systoms were given throat swabs and tested for H1N1.
His excuse was there was limited testing resources at the Inst of Medical Reasearch and the Sg Buloh hospital. His excuse sounded as if H1N1 appeared only yesterday. This pandemic outbreak started in April 2009 and what the fxxk was the MOH doing in all these months preparing for this pandemic? We don’t want excuses. We want to know what steps have the MOH taken to counter the rapid rise in infection and deaths. We want to see proactive actions. Not reactive excuses after deaths have occurred. By now the blur and blind minister of health and his incompetent DG should have in place all the action plans needed to cover any eventuality – not wasting time appearing on TV and giving their pathetic excuses why they cannot do this and cannot do that.
#15 by k1980 on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 1:04 pm
Reminder to the blur-blur Health Minister: Tha Spanish flu began in 1918 and within a couple of years had killed 50 million people worldwide
#16 by raven77 on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 1:28 pm
The Health Minister..Liow…is not even in the country…on a shopping trip with Najib to Brunei…what more can you say….
#17 by MGR1940 on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 1:47 pm
Who decides to see a doctor or a perbantu doctor in a Goverment Polyclnic? Is it the registaration clerk?
My wife took my daughter who was having fever and sore throat after a trip on a school study tour with about 80 students to this clnic near my home yesterday. After registeration the clerk directed my daughter to see a permbantu doctor. My wife explained to her that it could be H1N1 for my daughter was exposed with so many other students and wanted to see a doctor.The clerk just replied “pergi jumpa dulu, kalau dia ta’boleh,dia antar ka doctor”. Why all this?
Are the clerks qualified to do so? Or she will only send her friends or her people straight to see a doctor which my wife observed? (there are 3 doctors in this clinic).
My dauighter never felt better after taking the medcine he gave and this morning I sent her to a private clinic and my daughter had to skip school for 2 days.Now she is much better.
Mlaysia (Ta)Boleh even 3030 with umnoputras around.More people are going to die by H1N1 with these people around.
#18 by k1980 on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 2:32 pm
13 deaths so far and counting. How many died of SARS in 2003? And there is insufficient stock of Tamiflu in the country for 28 million people.
#19 by learnyee on Thursday, 6 August 2009 - 10:12 pm
personaly, I dont find those infor in our local website are sufficient, try checking the url below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic
#20 by cemerlang on Friday, 7 August 2009 - 7:09 am
If the doctors and the scientists have no treatment for the H1N1, no need to say for a website that is not human at all. The doctors did not even try to do anything. No injections. Even if there is, it is not 100% workable because it is not a specific treatment. No other treatments. Only advises. Advises are just words coming from the mouth and these words cannot magically kill the HIN1 virus. Virus cannot be killed because it uses the human gene to its’ advantage. Do not be afraid. There is a higher calling. At least the big guy up there is starting to judge the situations and pass the sentences early instead of allowing humans to take the laws into their own hands. The moral of the HIN1 crisis is that humans must do good all the time.