The Health Ministry will hold discussions with the National Fatwa Council next week on a unified stand on abortion for mothers infected with Zika virus which is linked to the birth defect, microcephaly.
Its minister Dr S Subramaniam said the cabinet had instructed the ministry to discuss the matter with the fatwa council for a national consensus on how to deal with the issue.
He said so far, only one mufti had come forward to clarify the matter, and the existing law in the country only allowed abortion if a mother’s life was at risk.
“There has been suggestions from the cabinet, for the fatwa council to deliberate on the issue, and to also obtain medical and scientific input from us and come to a national consensus.
“Once there is national consensus, the scientific components and medical fraternity will sit down together and come out with the advice based on the discussions,” he said at his weekly press conferencein Putrajaya today.
Dr Subramaniam was asked to comment on the Federal Territory mufti’s approval for abortion for pregnant mothers infected with Zika virus.
On another development, Dr Subramaniam said the Health Ministry had identified two types of Zika virus strains, French Polynesia and Micronesia, resulting in a total of six cases in the country so far.
He said the French Polynesia type of virus was similar to that found in Brazil and Singapore, while the other was a local strain (Micronesia) from an earlier case recorded in the country.
“The results were obtained from tests carried out on the first two infected patients in Taman Botani, Klang and Likas, Sabah. With regard to the other four cases, the ministry is still conducting further tests,” he said.
The first Zika case involved a 58-year-old woman from Klang who had contracted the disease in Singapore, while the second case was a man, who died from heart-related complications.
Asked which virus strain was dangerous, Dr Subramaniam said: “We still don’t know and we are still investigating on the strains. But, it is better to assume that the risk is the same and take the necessary precautions. If it is a lesser risk, it is good for us.”
Dr Subramaniam said that between Sept 1 and today, the ministry’s monitoring had detected 79 people with symptoms of Zika but their blood and urine tests showed negative.
The symptoms of Zika infection include fever, rashes, joint pain, conjunctivitis (red eyes), muscle pain, headache, pain behind the eyes and vomiting.
To date, he said the ministry and the local authorities had inspected 3,543 houses, most of which were located near the six reported cases, besides conducting larviciding, fogging and other vector-control measures.
- Bernama
