Malaysia to deploy AI-assisted lung screening in 902 clinics

Malaysia's Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, announced that 902 health clinics nationwide will implement an integrated lung health approach by the end of 2026. This initiative is part of the Healthy Lung Initiative 2025-2030, designed to address the country's respiratory disease burden, which remains a leading cause of hospital admissions and deaths.

The program will utilize artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted chest X-ray screening to improve early disease detection. To support monitoring and evaluation, the government has established the National Lung Health Registry (Nalury).

Dr. Dzulkefly highlighted the urgency of the initiative, noting that asthma affects approximately 6 percent of adults and 13 percent of children in Malaysia, with one in three asthma cases remaining undiagnosed. Additionally, the ministry is focusing on tuberculosis management and enforcing the Public Health Smoking Product Control Act 2024 to protect younger populations from smoking-related risks.