Plan for better medical facilities at camps

NST: PASIR PUTIH: Each National Service camp will have its own medical staff, and ambulances will be stationed at isolated camps.
These are among the proposals by a joint technical committee from the NS Department and the Health and Defence Ministries that must be approved by the Cabinet.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said each camp clinic would have a doctor, three medical assistants and two trainee nurses. At the moment, they are staffed by two community nurses.
"We will also suggest adding more stretchers, inhalers for asthmatic trainees and other basic medications," he said after a surprise visit to the NS camp at Kisana Beach Resort yesterday.
"The technical committee has also found that several camps were too far from a hospital. They will need an ambulance as part of the medical services upgrade," he said.
The estimated cost of this alone is RM20 million.
"The technical committee also plans to look into the physical exercises the trainees must do."
Dr Chua also discussed the criticisms of the National Service. He said the majority of the 100,000 trainees who had gone through the programme had no complaints.
"On claims that diseases are spread through the camps, such things happen outside as well. The outbreaks reported in the camps, such as chicken pox, have not been that serious. There has not been one report of an outbreak of serious illnesses like dengue fever."
On conditions at the Kisana Beach Resort camp, Dr Chua said everything was in place although there was room for improvement.