Mercy Malaysia To Set Up Representative Office In Medan

MEDAN, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Medical Relief Society (Mercy) will set up a representative office here next year to facilitate humanitarian and medical relief efforts in Indonesia which is vulnerable to natural disasters.
Its president, Datuk Dr Ahmad Faizal Mohd Perdaus said the establishment of the office would enable aid to be distributed systematically and comprehensively as Mercy had been channelling aid to the country since 10 years ago.
"The setting up of the Medan office is still being discussed with the Indonesian government and a plan is afoot to set up another Mercy representative office in Jakarta to carry out humanitarian programmes.
"It is high time that we spread our wings and step up our capacity in humanitarian efforts, especially in healthcare provision and preparedness so that we will be more resilient in the long run," he told reporters here Saturday.
Earlier, Dr Ahmad Faizal signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 'Mother, Babies and Children Healthcare' on behalf of Mercy with the North Sumatra Health Services Department which was represented by its head, Dr Kustinah Mkes.
The MoU is aimed at raising awareness on mother and baby healthcare through systematic method and medical practices as Indonesia (particularly North Sumatra) recorded the third highest maternal and infant mortality rates in Asean.
Dr Ahmad Faizal said Mercy also donated RM240,000 to four districts involved in the programme, namely Medan, Langkat, Asahan and Serdang Bedagai, which would benefit 109,442 expectant mothers and 99,493 babies.
Present were Malaysian consul-general in Medan Norlin Othman, Regent of Serdang Bedagai H.T Erry Nuradi, Mercy deputy president Norazam Abu Samah and Mercy secretary-general Raja Riza Shazmin Raja Badrul Shah.