Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health
  • 2 National University of Malaysia
  • 3 National Institute of Respiratory Medicine
  • 4 Selayang Hospital, Kuala Lumpur
  • 5 University of Birmingham, U.K.
Med J Malaysia, 2001 Mar;56(1):25-31.
PMID: 11503292

Abstract

In 1997, the Ministry of Health Malaysia introduced a surveillance programme for occupational and work-related diseases including poisonings for cases seen in government health facilities. Between June 1997 and November 1998, there were 36 cases of respiratory disease and 95 cases of poisoning by chemicals and pesticides notified while skin diseases were 108 cases. Respiratory diseases reported were predominantly occupational asthma (25%), pneumoconiosis (17%) and infections (39%). The commonest reported skin disease was contact dermatitis (87%). The commonest causes of occupational poisonings were paraquat (19%), organo-phosphates (16%), agro-chemicals excluding pesticides (15%) and gases (10%). The number of cases reported is still relatively few compared to data from other countries, suggesting that there is still considerable under reporting.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.