Perkembangan Penyakit SARS di Malaysia Pada Tahun 2003: Tumpuan Kepada Ancaman dan Langkah Kawalan Kerajaan Malaysia (The Spread of SARS in Malaysia in 2003: Focusing on the Threat and Control Measures by the Malaysian Government)

Abstract

The WHO declared the outbreak of the SARS epidemic in March 2003. Therefore, this discussion uses the historical method approach through qualitative analysis using primary and secondary sources, among them are newspapers and Ministry of Health Malaysia reports. This article aims to examine the continuity of the spread of the SARS epidemic and the threat value of epidemic transmission to national security, and to what extent the Malaysian government has taken steps to minimise the impact of the spread of this communicable disease. This study found that more or less, the mortality and SARS case records reported in Malaysia were at a smaller scale compared to other countries. However, the SARS tragedy also incurred some indirect effects, such as the opaque nature of information-sharing, especially relating to probability, suspected, and mortality cases as reported in the newspapers. The economic effects of the epidemic also shook some related sectors such as transport and tourism. The crisis communication management was also tested during the epidemic transmission period. For that purpose, the stated issues are taken as the benchmark to evaluate to what extent the SARS epidemic has threatened national security and show the extent of government preparedness in containing the spread of the SARS epidemic.