Once-popular mobile clinics to make comeback

Star: KANGAR: Mobile clinics, popular among rural folk in the past, are set to make a comeback.
“There had been requests for more rural, district, health and midwife clinics under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, but the Cabinet has decided to re-introduce mobile clinics,” said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek.
“Mobile clinics are essential in areas that are hard to reach and do not have proper public transport, such as interior areas in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
There are similar remote areas in Perlis, Kelantan, Pahang, Terengganu and even Selangor, he told a press conference after visiting a health clinic in Kuala Perlis, near here, yesterday.
Dr Chua said the number of mobile clinics would depend on the Government’s budget, adding that the ministry hoped to re-introduce the clinics next year.
The clinics, he said, would be equipped with a pharmacy and facilities for medical tests.
Dr Chua said the mobile clinics were favoured by rural folks in the past but their popularity waned as a result of the rising number of district, rural and midwife clinics.
On another matter, Dr Chua said doctors who accepted rural postings would be given priority to continue their post-graduate studies.
“There are many staff who refuse to be posted to rural areas,” he said.