High-tech system to combat dengue

Dr Helmi explaining the Crush Aedes Totally system at the state Vector Office at the Federal Building in Anson Road, Penang.

THE Crush Aedes Totally (CAT) is an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven predictive system that allows the state Health Department to deploy teams and mitigate any dengue outbreak before it happens, said Aime Healthcare Sdn Bhd director Dr Helmi Zakariah.

“The system employs artificial intelligence to predict a possible outbreak, and geolocate the location of the probable outbreak.

“Essentially, this insight allows us to allocate our resources strategically,” he told reporters at the state Vector Office (Pejabat Vektor Negeri) at the Federal Building in Anson Road, Penang, recently.

Dr Helmi said the programme is a collaboration between Aime Healthcare and the Penang government to curb the increase in dengue cases and deaths in the state.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was also present, said since the programme started on Jan 18, there has been a drop in the number of dengue cases statewide.

“We are the first state in Malaysia to implement this programme and we are willing to share all our information with the Health Ministry.

“We want to work together. We hope that if they come in, we can do it more extensively, not only in Penang, but also in other states,” he said.

Lim said the most important aspect of AI was its ability to make predictions on where and when the next outbreak would be based on past data.

“Prevention is the best form of cure. We are investing almost RM500,000 in this.

“In 2016, there were 12 dengue deaths, in 2017 there were 30 dengue deaths and the dengue cases continue to go up.

“We want to see the number of dengue cases and deaths go down.”