He told the Dewan Rakyat today that there has been a rise in the number of diseases, including tuberculosis, which he described as a time-bomb.

Earlier, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (GPS-Santubong) said the Kajang Prison is a “breeding ground for TB”, and said former inmates were spreading the disease to their immediate family members.

To this, Dzulkefly said the condition in prisons was of concern, and that he had raised in the Cabinet the problem of a shortage of doctors in prisons.

He said the authorities would conduct spot checks at construction sites as there have been claims that TB and other diseases are making a comeback through foreign workers.

He said medical tests on foreign workers could not detect diseases such TB and HIV infection (HIV).