Materia Medica Malaysiana

Sultan: Upgrade hospital with heart surgery facilities

KUANTAN: People from the east coast states should be able to receive heart surgery at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan here, said the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah Sultan Abu Bakar.

He said the Health Ministry should introduce this service at the hospital here so that heart patients no longer need to travel to Kuala Lumpur for such treatment.

“The hospital has been around for 100 years and I hope we will not have to wait for another 100 years before heart operations are performed here,” he said in his royal address during the hospital’s centennial celebrations here yesterday.

The Sultan also advised his subjects to adopt a healthy lifestyle to ensure that they could contribute effectively to the state and nation.

“Take appropriate steps to have health checks and accept medical advice given by health personnel,” he said.

He urged doctors to be open in adopting the growing technologies in the medical field and to ensure that the hospital was upgraded continuously.

The Sultan later presented medical aid to several patients, including two children, aged nine and three, suffering from thalassaemia.

He also presented gifts of appreciation to active blood donors and organisations which organised blood drives to ensure that the hospital’s blood bank had adequate stock.