PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES ACT 1988

LAWS OF MALAYSIA ONLINE VERSION OF UPDATED TEXT OF REPRINT Act 342 PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES ACT 1988 As at 1 July 2020 2 PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES ACT 1988 Date of Royal Assent … … … 13 August 1988 Date of publication in the Gazette … 8 September 1988 Latest amendment made by P.U. (A) 179/2020 which came into operation on … … 10 June 2020 PREVIOUS REPRINTS First Reprint … … … 2001 Second Reprint … … … 2006 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 342 PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES ACT 1988 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I PRELIMINARY Section 1. Short title, application and commencement 2. Interpretation PART II ADMINISTRATION 3. Appointment of authorized officers 4. Limitation of liability 5. Police assistance, etc. PART III PREVENTION OF IMPORTATION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE 6. Declaration of infected area 7. Entry into and examination of vehicles and the measures thereafter 8. Time for examination 9. Importation or exportation of human remains and pathogenic organism or substance 4 Laws of Malaysia ACT 342 PART IV CONTROL OF THE SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE Section 10. Requirement to notify infectious disease 11. Declaration of an infected local area 12. Infected persons not to act in a manner likely to spread infectious disease 13. Control of contaminated articles and infected animals 14. Isolation of infected persons and suspects 15. Observation or surveillance of contacts 16. Order for examination of corpse 17. Disposal of the dead 18. Disinfection and closure of premises 19. Destruction of structures 20. Selling or letting contaminated buildings 21. Power to order disinfection of certain vehicles PART V OFFENCES AND PENALTIES 22. Offences generally 23. Prosecution 24. General penalty 25. Compounding of offences PART VI MISCELLANEOUS 26. Requisition of premises 27. Seizure and disposal of contaminated articles, etc. 28. Recovery of costs and expenses 29. Exemption 30. Power to vary Schedule Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Section 31. Power to make regulations 32. Amendment 33. Repeal and savings FIRST SCHEDULE SECOND SCHEDULE 5 7 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 342 PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES ACT 1988 An Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to the prevention and control of infectious diseases and to provide for other matters connected therewith. [Througout Malaysia―1 April 1989, P.U. (B) 179/1989] BE IT ENACTED by the Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the advice and consent of the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: PART I PRELIMINARY Short title, application and commencement 1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, and shall apply throughout Malaysia. (2) This Act shall come into force on a date to be appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette; and the Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into force of this Act, or of different provisions thereof, in different parts of Malaysia. 8 Laws of Malaysia ACT 342 Interpretation 2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “aircraft” includes every description of craft used in aerial navigation; “airport” means any area of land, water or space designed, equipped, set apart or commonly used for affording facilities for the take-off and landing of aircraft and includes the roof of a building which is designed, equipped or set apart for affording facilities for the take-off and landing of aircraft; “article” means any non-living movable thing including food and drugs and also includes fittings and fixtures; “authorized officer” means any Medical Officer of Health, any health inspector, or any officer appointed by the Minister under section 3; “boarding-house” includes— (a) a hotel; (b) a hostel; or (c) any institution of refuge or rest for persons needing care; “commander” means the person for the time being in command of an aircraft or a ship; “contact” means any person who has been or is likely to have been exposed to the risk of contracting an infectious disease, including any person arriving from an infected area; “contamination” means the presence of agents of an infectious disease on the surface of or in non-living things or on the body surface of living things; “derat” means to render free from rodents; Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 9 “Director General” means the Director General of Health; “disinfect” means to destroy or remove the agents of disease; “disinsecting” means the operation in which measures are taken to kill noxious insects; “epidemic” means an extension of a disease by a multiplication of cases in an area; “food” includes any substance consumed by human beings or animals or any substance used in the composition or preparation of any such substance and also includes flavouring matters and condiments, but does not include drugs; “health inspector” means any health inspector in the service of the Government or of any local authority; “immunization” means the introduction of specific antigens or antibodies into the human body with the object of conferring immunity against the disease in question, and includes vaccination; “infection” means the entry of agents of an infectious disease into living things and the multiplication of such agents in living things; “infectious disease” means any disease specified in the First Schedule; “infested” means infested with rodents or noxious insects; “International Health Regulations” means the International Health Regulations as adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1969 and as amended from time to time; “isolation” when applied to a person or a group of persons means the separation of that person or group of persons from other persons, except the personnel in charge of the care and isolation of such persons, in such a manner as to prevent the spread of infection, and includes the treatment of that person or group of persons; 10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 342 “Medical Officer of Health” means any medical practitioner in the service of the Government or any local authority who is for the time being carrying out the duties of a Medical Officer of Health in any area, district, or local authority area, including the airport and port limits thereof, and includes the Director General, the Deputy Director General of Health, the Director of Health Services, any Deputy Director of Health Services, any State Director of Medical and Health Services, any State Deputy Director of Medical and Health Services, the Sabah State Director of Medical Services and his Deputy and the Sarawak State Director of Medical Services and his Deputy; “medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Act 1971 [Act 50]; “noxious insect” means any arthropod carrying or causing or capable of carrying or causing any infectious disease, and includes the eggs, larvae and pupae of such arthropod; “observation” means the segregation of any contact or person suspected of suffering from any infectious disease for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not he is suffering from any infectious disease, and includes the treatment of that person; “pathogenic organism or substance” includes— (a) any animal; (b) any noxious insect; (c) any living germ, microbe, bacteria or virus; (d) the culture of any germ, microbe, bacteria or virus; or (e) the product of any germ, microbe, bacteria or virus, capable of causing any infectious disease; “port” means a seaport or an inland navigation port which is normally frequented by ships; Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 11 “premises” includes any structure, permanent or otherwise, the land on which the structure is situated, and any adjoining land used in connection therewith, and also includes any street, open space or vehicle; “quarantine station” means any place where isolation or observation is carried out and includes an infectious disease hospital and any place declared by the Minister in the Gazette to be a quarantine station; “ship” includes any vessel used in navigation by water; “surveillance” means the subjection of any person, who is not isolated, to periodical examination or enquiry for the purpose of ascertaining his state of health and to conditions imposed by an authorized officer for such purpose; “treatment” includes all such acts and procedures as may be necessary for the purpose of determining whether a person is infected with an infectious disease; “vehicle” includes a ship, an aircraft, a train, a road vehicle and any other means of transport. (2) Any reference to “airport” or “port” includes a reference to any structure, permanent or otherwise, within the limits thereof. PART II ADMINISTRATION Appointment of authorized officers 3. (1) The Minister may appoint any suitable person to be an authorized officer for the purposes of this Act. (2) An authorized officer shall, when acting within the scope of his powers and duties under this Act, be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code [Act 574]. 12 Laws of Malaysia ACT 342 (3) An authorized officer shall maintain the confidentiality of all matters which come to his knowledge in the performance of his official duties under this Act and shall not communicate any such matter to any person except for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act. (4) An authorized officer who contravenes subsection (3) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine or to both. Limitation of liability 4. (1) Nothing done by any authorized officer for the purpose of executing this Act and the regulations made thereunder shall subject the authorized officer personally to any action, liability, claim or demand whatsoever. (2) Subsection (1) shall apply to any officer acting under section 5. Police assistance, etc. 5. Police, customs and immigration officers and officers from other government departments and agencies shall render such assistance as any authorized officer may request for the purpose of enabling him to exercise the powers vested in him by this Act or the regulations made under this Act. PART III PREVENTION OF IMPORTATION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE Declaration of infected area 6. (1) Whenever notification is received under the International Health Regulations that an infected area exists outside Malaysia, the Minister may by order in the Gazette declare such area to be an infected area for the purposes of this Act. Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 13 (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), the Minister may, by order in the Gazette, declare any other area outside Malaysia to be an infected area. (3) The Minister may, by regulations made under this Act, prescribe the measures to be taken to prevent the introduction of any infectious disease into Malaysia from an infected area. Entry into and examination of vehicles and the measures thereafter 7. (1) An authorized officer may— (a) enter into and medically examine any vehicle at any time upon its arrival in Malaysia; (b) medically examine any person, animal or article on board such vehicle; and (c) take such samples as may be necessary for the purpose of determining the sanitary condition of such vehicle or article or the state of health of such person or animal. (2) An authorized officer may order any part of any vehicle, which he has reason to believe to be contaminated or infested, to be disinfected, disinsected or deratted to that officer’s satisfaction. (3) If in the course of a medical examination under subsection (1) an authorized officer finds or has reason to believe that any person is infected or is a contact, he may order such person— (a) to be removed to a quarantine station and detained therein for isolatio