Orang asli healthcare services to be further improved

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry is confident that healthcare services for the orang asli community will be further improved by taking over the Hospital Orang Asli Gombak and three clinics in Pahang, Kelantan and Perak, said Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
He said the ministry, which took over the hospital and the three clinics from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, would offer better quality of healthcare services to the community as it was the professional in the field.
The Health Ministry also took over the mobile clinic, mobile dentistry service team and the flying doctor service from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry.
“We will also be able to provide them with upgraded primary healthcare and introduce preventive measures for different diseases.
“The orang asli community, especially those who live in the interior areas, will also enjoy better access to quality health services by being able to utilise the facilities provided by the ministry,” Liow told reporters after the handing over ceremony of the health and medical division under the Orang Asli Development Department to the Health Ministry here on Friday.
Liow said the move to take over the division would also ensure doctors and medical staff working at these hospital and clinics a better career path, whereby they would have more opportunities for transfers and promotions.
He also assured that traditional practices, including exclusivity and family admission, at the hospital would continue under the administration of the Health Ministry.
“It is the tradition of the orang asli that when a patient is admitted to the hospital, his or her entire family will also check into the hospital and we are maintaining this practice at the hospital, which has a capacity of 166 beds for the patients,” he said.
He said the ministry would also ensure that patients were only sent home after they had fully recovered from their illnesses because “it would be difficult for them to get out of their house to receive treatment again.”