BLAME is laid squarely at the feet of migrant labour for the return to these shores of such contagious diseases as leprosy and tuberculosis (TB), long thought to have been eliminated. Malaysia was pronounced leprosy-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1994. TB, meanwhile, had declined significantly between 1970 and 1990. At the turn of the century, however, the numbers slowly crept up and this was attributed to the arrival of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, which left patients vulnerable given their low immunity. It is, too, attributable to the rise in the number of migrant labour from the Third World. This is also the reason for the increase in leprosy incidence in the country. The assumption is proven, for TB at least. For, when the authorities repatriated sufferers, cases of TB began to slowly decline again.
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