Malaysia is an upper-middle-income country with strong capacity and self-sufficiency in outbreak preparedness and response, as evidenced by its previous experiences to a range of infectious disease outbreaks. The Country’s response to epidemics like the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) 2002-2003 and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the last few years, coupled with the implementation of the Malaysia Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (MySED), has shaped and strengthened the Country’s robust structure to prevent, prepare, ensure rapid response to public health emergencies and recovery. Malaysia has complied with International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) core capacity requirements since it entered into force and has established monitoring and surveillance activities for detection of influenza and Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).
