Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, 6^th August 2009: 

Ministry of Health website latest fatal casualty of the A (H1N1) killer pandemic?

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan is really on a personal vendetta binge.

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.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor