Malaysia

Malaysia is a large nation on the southeastern edge of Asia. Actually a federation of 13 separate states, the country is split into West Malaysia on the mainland, and Malaysian Borneo (or East Malaysia) about 400 miles across the South China Sea. The majority of the population lives on the mainland. The majority of citizens are Muslim Malays, but it is a highly multiethnic society with large Indian, Thai, and Chinese communities. The Malaysian government has poured considerable money and resources into its health system in an effort to improve the lives of citizens.

The population of Malaysia is 24,358,858 and growing at a rate of 1.78 percent annually. There are also an unknown number of illegal immigrants living and working within the country, numbering perhaps [Page 1056]1 million or more. The urbanization rate is 69 percent. Unemployment is 3.5 percent, with 85 percent of the workforce in the industrial or service sectors. The poverty rate is 8 percent.

Particularly in urban areas, such as Kuala Lumpur above, Malaysians have options for medical care and access to dental care.

Life expectancy has been rising steadily since the 1960s, and now stands at 69.8 years for males and 75.4 years for females. Childhood mortality is low, with 10 deaths per 1,000 for children younger than 1 and 16 deaths per 1,000 for children between the ages of 1 and 5. More than 95 percent of children receive immunizations for tuberculosis, polio, measles, hepatitis B, and diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus. Maternal mortality is 41 deaths per 100,000 live births, and 97 percent of women have a trained attendant present during childbirth.

While the entire country has safe drinking water and sanitary facilities, water-, food-, and vector-borne diseases still affect some Malaysians, particularly those in rural areas.

Among the most common infectious diseases are giardia, hepatitis A, typhoid, and dengue fever. Filariasis cis present in some regions. The country's medical system is well equipped to monitor and respond to outbreaks of these and common communicable diseases, greatly reducing mortality rates.

In 1999, Malaysia suffered an outbreak of a new zoonotic virus called Nipah, after the area in which it was first detected. The Nipah virus seems to be carried by fruit bats, and can be transmitted to both people and pigs. The virus causes severe flu-like symptoms and develops into an inflammation of the brain. With no known treatment, Nipah virus has been fatal in about 50 percent of recorded cases. The largest known outbreak, in 1998–1999, infected 265 people and killed 105.

Although most Malaysians have a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, seafood, rice, and noodles, there has been a rise in the modern “lifestyle” diseases common to higher-income nations in recent years. The World Health Organization estimated 942,000 Malaysians were living with diabetes in 2000; the number is projected to grow to 2.5 million by 2030. Leading causes of mortality are heart disease, cerebrovascular disorders, and cancer. Deaths and injuries in accidents are also increasingly common, both due to the country's increased urbanization rates and a large youth population more likely to engage in risk taking. Forty-two percent of Malaysians are under the age of 20.

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