KOTA BARU: The inaugural Orang Asli Health Survey in Kelantan will take place between July 20 and Sept 11.
State health director Datuk Dr Zaini Hussin said the survey would cover 11 Orang Asli villages in three districts: six in Gua Musang, four in Jeli and one in Kuala Krai.
Dr Zaini said the villages include Pasir Linggi, Kampung Kuala Wok, Kampung Tendrik, Kampung Kuala Koh, Kampung Manok and Sungai Rual.
"11 nurses will be involved in the survey and their job is to collect baseline health data and check the health of the Orang Asli.
"This includes conducting finger prick blood tests and hair and nail sample collection," he said.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday said the Institute for Public Health in cooperation of the Department of Orang Asli Development (Jakoa) is conducting an inaugural Orang Asli Health Survey.
He said the survey is aimed at collecting data on the health status of Orang Asli nationwide.
He said that the three-month survey, which kicked off on July 13 and will conclude on Sept 13, would assist the ministry in strengthening the healthcare services provided to Malaysians, especially the Orang Asli community.
Khairy said the Orang Asli community represented 0.6 per cent or about 200,000 people of the total population, and the survey findings would allow the ministry to assess the existing health programmes for the Orang Asli community.
The villages that were randomly picked for the survey represented the three main Orang Asli tribes, namely Senoi, Proto-Malay and Negrito from Pahang, Perak, Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Johor.