A total of 14,350 people have undergone AI-assisted chest X-ray screening at seven participating health clinics, with 25.5% recording abnormal findings.
“About a third of those with abnormalities had lung nodules detected and are being further assessed for lung cancer and tuberculosis,” the ministry told The Star.
The pilot project involving seven clinics was part of the National Lung Health Initiative (LHI) aimed at strengthening the prevention, screening, treatment and control of lung-related diseases.
The initiative has now been expanded nationwide.
“The objective is to detect lung disease earlier, downstage lung cancer at diagnosis, reduce hospital admissions due to asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and reduce mortality from lung cancer, tuberculosis and chronic lung diseases,” said the ministry.
The findings showed that the integrated approach supports the detection of both infectious and non-communicable lung diseases.
“Early implementation of the screening programme has shown that the integrated approach is able to identify high-risk individuals for early intervention.”
It added that the lung health screening and management was being implemented in health clinics, where the screening model included AI-assisted chest X-ray, spirometry, tuberculosis testing and low-dose CT for selected high-risk individuals.
Malaysia already faces a substantial burden from lung diseases, including late-detected lung cancer, with 90% to 95% of cases diagnosed at Stage 3 or 4, as well as COPD, asthma and tuberculosis.
Smoking habits, air pollution like haze and occupational exposures have only increased the risk of lung diseases.
“In response to the rising burden, the ministry also spearheaded the World Health Assembly resolution on Promoting and Prioritising an Integrated Lung Health Approach that was adopted in May 2025 and developed the LHI 2025–2030 as an integrated approach to lung health prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment,” Health director-general Datuk Dr Mahathar Abd Wahab said in a circular dated Aug 21.
Screenings will include an assessment of risk factors and symptoms, clinical examinations and tests based on an individual’s eligibility and clinical indications.
Those with abnormal screening results will then be referred for further investigations, confirmation of diagnosis and treatment under the prescribed referral procedures, the circular said.
All information related to the screenings, including results, referrals and diagnoses, must be recorded in the National Lung Health Registry (Nalury) for monitoring, evaluation and reporting purposes.
State health departments have also been instructed to form state-level LHI implementation committees, chaired by their respective state health directors, to coordinate the policy direction, implementation and monitoring of the programme.
The directive took effect on Aug 21.
