NS trainees to have access to three medical assistants and two nurses

Star: PUTRAJAYA: All national service camps will have at least three medical assistants and two nurses to ensure that trainees have access to medical attention always.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said this was among several recommendations by a technical committee which the Cabinet agreed to yesterday.

The other improvements are:
> Allocating ambulances for camps far away from hospitals or health clinics;
> Carrying out weekly health checks at camps either by the Health Ministry or the Armed Forces;
> Upgrading medical equipment such as stretchers, oxygen tanks and medication;
> Improving the quality of food at camps; and
> Carrying out physical training according to the health status of trainees.

With these improvements, Dr Chua said, there would be no need for trainees to undergo compulsory medical examinations before they start their training stint.
He said the improvements would be implemented immediately and the Government had allocated RM20mil for the additional equipment and staff.
He was speaking to reporters at his ministry here after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
The technical committee, headed by Health Ministry deputy director-general Datuk Dr Ramlee Rahmat, was formed about two months ago to look into various problems afflicting the NS programme.
The committee members include the NS Training Department director-general and deputy director-general, three medical specialists and a nutritionist.
There have been 12 deaths involving NS trainees since the programme started in 2004, seven of them health-related.
Dr Chua said additional staff might be seconded from the ministry and the Armed Forces to be posted at the camps.
He also said there was a shortage of personnel for the weekly checks.
“We are discussing with the Armed Forces on how we can take turns to visit the camps,” he said.
Dr Chua said the compulsory medical examinations would not be necessary if trainees fill in the medical assessment forms truthfully.
He said it was found that for every 1,000 medical assessment forms filled in by trainees declaring that they had health problems, only five were genuine.
On the scheduling of the physical training module according to the health status of the trainee, Dr Chua said those who were unhealthy could get exemptions.
“We might even have different physical modules for male and female trainees,” he said.