KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — The Health Ministry is developing an artificial intelligence (AI) system to predict and identify dengue hotspots to strengthen early detection and outbreak response.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told the Dewan Rakyat today that the predictive AI tool is designed to pinpoint high-risk areas before case numbers rise, enabling more targeted intervention.
“Dengue-related deaths have now exceeded Covid-19 fatalities. This year, there have been 21 dengue deaths, compared with just one from Covid-19,” he said during the question-and-answer session.
However, he noted that the situation has improved from last year, when Malaysia recorded over 83,000 dengue cases and 117 deaths.
Dr Dzulkefly was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PN-Kuala Langat) about moves to tackle recurring dengue outbreaks.
He said Selangor continues to house the highest number of cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur.
Dr Dzulkefly also highlighted the effectiveness of the wolbachia mosquito programme, which has been activated in 45 hotspots.
The programme has achieved success rates of between 45 per cent and 100 per cent in suppressing Aedes mosquito populations, he added.
On the dengue vaccine, Dr Dzulkefly said research and development is ongoing at Universiti Malaya under his ministry’s direction.
— Bernama
