Materia Medica Malaysiana

Atiqah's death not due to bureaucracy, says Dr Chua

KUALA LIPIS July 15 - The death of 15-month-old Nur Atiqah Najwa Mohd Sarif at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) before undergoing a liver transplant was not due to the Health Ministry's bureacracy said its minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek Thursday.

He said Nur Atiqah's surgery was postponed due to health complications, as it was very risky to continue with the procedure.

"The Health Ministry's policy is not to allow any organ transplant, including liver (transplant) if the procedure poses a risk for the receiver or donor," he said.

"Liver transplants pose very high-risks - only one out of 100 surgeries are successful," he told reporters after visiting the Lipis Hospital here.

Nur Atiqah, who had billiary atresia (inflamed liver) died at 6.24 am on Wednesday from massive bleeding of the oesophagus (gullet).

On the decision to have Nur Atiqah's surgery at a private medical centre, Dr Chua said the ministry too provided many sophisticated facilities for the public at the Selayang Hospital for a reasonable cost.

The hospital has also employed the services of Australian liver transplant specialist, Dr Russell Strong.

"We only charge RM500 for every surgery, so there is no reason for the public to prefer the far more expensive services of private hospitals," he said.

Dr Chua said his ministry had trained many doctors at the Selayang Hospital to specialise in liver surgery.

"I accept there are weaknesses, but the ministry is constantly making efforts to rectify them and make improvements," he said.

Hospitals under the Health Ministry treated about 48 million patients a year.