Flying doctor service for remote areas

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Every day, if weather permits, two helicopters fly medical personnel into remote villages in Sabah to render medical aid to those in need.
These are villages which are not accessible by road or river.
Sabah Health director Dr Marzukhi Md Isa said the medical team flew in to around 30 such remote villages.
A medical evacuation helicopter also ferries patients who need to be flown to the nearest government hospital, he told the New Straits Times.
The medical team conducts antenatal checks once a month and hopes to increase the frequency soon.
In Sabah, there are 291 health centres, 23 hospitals and 227 klinik desa (rural clinics).
Dr Marzukhi said 59 per cent of the 3.1 million population in the state lived in remote and rural areas and the majority had access to government health facilities, at least within a seven-km range.
"We do have local non-governmental organisations such as the Rotary Club, Malaysian Red Crescent Society and St John Ambulance helping us to carry out health camps in the remote areas."
He said the department also welcomed teams from Peninsular Malaysia who wanted to provide medical assistance to these people.
"Those who come to Sabah always seek our cooperation and all health activities are done jointly," he said, adding that most of these activities with NGOs were conducted on weekends.
Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) 2006-2010, the Health Ministry continues to be the leading agency and main provider of health services with a budget allocation of RM10.2 billion.
Of this amount, RM3.3 billion goes to public healthcare, RM5.4 billion to patient care services, including building new hospitals and renovation works on existing ones, while RM1.3 billion is spent on other healthcare services, which also includes the training of staff.
In the 9MP, the government is aiming for a more equal distribution of healthcare services between urban and rural areas, said Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican.
According to the International Health Organisation, Malaysia has one of the best rural health services in the world.
The goal is to have a clinic within every five-km radius, which has already been achieved in most of the peninsular.
And more than 95 per cent of the rural population have access to a doctor.
Every Malaysian has access to good primary healthcare, with 2,965 clinics nationwide as well as 151 mobile clinics in rural areas.
The ministry has, in fact, achieved its target ratio of clinics to population.
There is one clinic or centre for every 20,000 people while there is one community or rural clinic for every 4,000 people.
Services at the clinics cover family health, dentistry, nutrition and dietetics, health education and promotion, home nursing, care of the elderly, rehabilitation, environmental sanitation, adolescent health and community mental health.
Dr Ismail said primary healthcare was the main thrust, supported by secondary and tertiary healthcare.
Since specialists are not available at community and rural clinics, the ministry has come up with a system to make sure that the rural folk are not deprived of services.
Embracing technology, the ministry has begun to introduce telehealth to rural areas.