HEALTH Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad will be presenting a full report to the cabinet next week on the deaths of 15 Bateq villagers who resided in Kg Kuala Koh, Gua Musang.

He was expected to present the report today during the cabinet’s weekly meeting.

However, the ministry in a statement this morning said the report will only be out next week.

While the ministry did not give reasons for the delay, The Malaysian Insight learnt that the minister needed more time to complete the report.

Dzulkefly’s aide said the minister and senior ministry officials had been away attending events last week.

Reports first emerged in early June about Orang Asli in Kg Kuala Koh were dying due to a mysterious disease.

This was followed by a visit by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waythamoorthy to Gua Musang on June 9.

His aide then confirmed that there had been 14 deaths in the village since early May.

The Health Ministry then confirmed that 15 villagers had died due to measles.

This was challenged by a report in the UK’s The Guardian that had quoted Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) president Dr Steven Chow on his belief that the deaths were not solely due to measles.

Post-mortem carried out on 12 bodies were inconclusive, largely due to their decomposition and contamination. – September 18, 2019.