Health Ministry to deploy AI to detect dengue hotspots early
22 Jul 2025 03:48pm
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad - BERNAMA FILE PIX
KUALA LUMPUR - The Health Ministry is developing an artificial intelligence (AI) system to predict and identify dengue hotspots, as part of efforts 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. So far this year, there have been 21 dengue deaths, compared to just one from Covid-19," he said during the question-and-answer session.
However, he noted 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), who asked about measures to tackle recurring dengue outbreaks.
He said Selangor continues to record the highest number of cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur. He also highlighted the effectiveness of the Wolbachia mosquito programme, which is being implemented in 45 localities.
The programme has achieved success rates of between 45 per cent and 100 per cent in suppressing Aedes mosquito populations, he added.
Regarding dengue vaccine development, Dr Dzulkefly said that research and development efforts are ongoing at Universiti Malaya under the ministry's direction. - BERNAMA
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