Kuala Lampur, Oct. 11 -- Large parts of Malaysia have now spent two months breathing air that the Government's own index rates as unhealthy.

On 4 September, the Air Pollutant Index (API) in Serian reached 519 and an emergency was declared across the division.

On 8 October, 38 areas recorded unhealthy readings, from Johor to the Klang Valley.

The toll on health is already measurable.

Ministry of Health surveillance recorded asthma cases up 259 per cent, and upper respiratory tract infections up 124 per cent, in a single week in August.

This is not a weather story.

It is a public health crisis, and it falls hardest on children, the elderly and those with heart and lung conditions.

Yet on the health emergency at home, the Madani Gover...