A Malaysian woman on voluntary work in Nepal died due to toxic poisoning caused by inhalation of smoke from charcoal briquettes used for warming her room. According to a website Myrepublica.com, the woman was identified as 19-year-old Jacqueline Ong. It was reported that Jacqueline and her friend Ong Layena, 41, had slept in a single room as guests in Lalitpur on Saturday night. The duo were found unconscious the next morning and Jacqueline was pronounced dead at Norvic Hospital on Tuesday. Jacqueline, who planned to study in the United States in September, had flown to Nepal for voluntary work on Jan 12. Her mother, who is a headmistress in a Chinese primary school in Kuala Lumpur, had flown to Nepal upon learning the news. Jacqueline's body will be flown back on Friday.
> MMA denies claim that private healthcare failed to detect dengue in first visit
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has refuted Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam's claim that statistics had showed that doctors at private clinics and hospitals failed to detect symptoms of dengue on 99% of patients during their first visit. MMA president Dr H. Krishna Kumar said private medical practitioners were able to detect the symptoms but it involved certain tests and some patients might think the procedures too costly. He said the first test, DEN-1, would cost about RM100, adding that usually during the first visit, the doctor would prescribe medicine for fever which cost around RM50. The total bill could easily reach RM150, he said. "Is a patient willing to pay that amount in their first visit?" he asked. It was reported that some 8,502 dengue cases were recorded in the first three weeks of January.