Malaysia

With economic progress, noncommunicable diseases associated with diet and lifestyle have become the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Malaysia, although there are huge variations between Peninsular Malaysia and the states of Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo. According to 1996 statistics, 84.0% of all pregnant women were immunized against tetanus. While trained personnel attended almost all births (95.0%), only 71.7% of all pregnant women received prenatal care from the public sector. This is consistent with findings that normal deliveries were the most frequent causes for hospitalization, followed by complications of pregnancy.

According to a UNFPA-funded survey, contraceptive use rates among married women of reproductive age average about 53%. There were 1196 cases of gonorrhea, accounting for one death, in 1994. A total of 1482 cases of syphilis were reported to the Ministry of Health in the same year. Rising numbers of HIV/AIDS cases continue to be observed, with a cumulative total of 24 002 cases of HIV infection, and 1386 cases of AIDS reported to date as of 31 December 1997. A 25% increase in AIDS cases and a 10% increase in new cases of HIV infection were noted between 1995 and 1996.

Data from the National Health Morbidity Survey II in 1996 showed that the overall prevalence of babies who had ever been breast-fed was 88.6%, while the mean duration was 28 weeks and the median duration 18 weeks. This was a slight increase in the prevalence reported in the Malaysian Family Life Survey in 1988, when the prevalence of babies who had ever been breast-fed was 85%.

"Health for All" remains the main theme of the health care development strategy of the Seventh Malaysian Plan. Among the national health priorities identified for the 1996–2000 period are health problems associated with lifestyle. Specifically, maternal and child health, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infection are targets of ongoing and future programmes. Health promotion and protection are widely recognized as crucial elements of cost–effective health care. Consequently, investments in the prevention and control of specific health problems have received top-level political commitment.

Major areas of collaboration with WHO include health human resource training and development, improvements in the quality of care, environmental safety, and health promotion. Related directly to the enhancement of safe motherhood are programmes designed to assess data collection and investigation systems and the surveillance of perinatal deaths. Another area of collaboration is focused on adolescent health and health education at the community level.