Miri folk can get medicine posted to them

Star: MIRI: A home-delivery service for medicine — the first of its kind in the state — has been launched here.
Initiated by the Health Ministry, patients registered with the Miri Hospital will be able to ask for their medicine to be delivered to their home address using Pos 1Malaysia service at RM6 per delivery.
Miri Divisional Health and Medical Services director Dr Faizul Mansor said the service would eventually be extended to other towns in the state.
“Under the system, anyone who goes for medical check-ups in the Miri Hospital and gets registered as a patient and is treated by a doctor, will qualify for the service.
“When he is at the hospital, he is eligible to get one month’s medicine supply from the pharmacy after his treatment. After that, he can ask the hospital for the home-delivery service,” Dr Faizul explained.
He said the medicine can be delivered to patients for two months.
He added that there were several strict conditions including that the medicine be delivered directly to the patient concerned, and not through a third party; the address of the patient must have a government-recognised postcode; and the medicine must be in tablet form.
“Liquid medicine and powdered medicine will not be delivered in this manner,” said Dr Faizul.
He pointed out that the Miri Hospital was the nucleus hospital for the northern region of Sarawak, serving some 400,000 patients in Sarawak’s northern districts of Miri, Niah, part of Bintulu, Marudi, Limbang and Lawas.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin, who launched the service, said: “This service is a big step forward in improving healthcare in Sarawak.
“Patients living far away from Miri have to spend a lot of money just to come to Miri Hospital to get their medicine. Now that this new service is in place, it will help them save travelling expenditure.”
Chin also said riverine folk living along the Baram River would soon be able to get medical treatment and health checks from mobile clinics.
He said the new and innovative services were part of the community-transformation programme initiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak to help improve the quality of life of people living in the far reaches of the state.
Starting next year, the Health Ministry will deploy boats equipped with proper treatment facilities and trained medical staff on the Baram River so that people living in riverine settlements can board them for health checks and medical attention.

Associations lament severe shortage of medical frontliners

Star: PETALING JAYA: Paramedics are the frontliners in the medical services industry but a severe shortage of those qualified in this field is affecting the lives of the people in emergency cases, particularly road accidents.
There have been cases where hospitals could only send out ambulances with just a driver and a junior nurse, thus depriving victims of the crucial medical aid before they reach the hospitals.
Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr David Quek said:
“Trained paramedics should be in the medical team because they are the frontliners. Unfortunately, the lack of paramedics has made the situation less than ideal for patients in cases of emergencies.”
He said there had been cases where lives could have been saved if they had been given pre-admission medical attention before reaching the hospital.
“Paramedics are needed to perform timely and life-saving emergency medical aid to the seriously wounded while they are being sent to the hospital,” he told The Star.
He said the acute shortage of trained and qualified paramedics to provide on-the-spot treatment to stabilise patients could make a difference between life and death.

St John Ambulance Malaysia (SJAM) commander-in-chief Da­­tuk Dr Low Bin Tick concurred, saying paramedics were difficult to come by.
He said based on SJAM estimates, there were only 50 qualified paramedics in the country.
Expressing concern over the startling figure, he called on the Government to train more paramedics to overcome the shortage.
“The problem arose because of the lack of career opportunities for paramedics to pursue the specialisation full-time and the low salary,” said Dr Low.
He added that there was no clear-cut career path for paramedics.

Malaysian Red Crescent Selangor branch training director S. Rama­nuja Muniandy agreed with Dr Low, adding that paramedics needed the support of the authorities in terms of career advancement.
“Paramedics would usually be employed at emergency units of hospitals and are not sent out on the field,” he said.
Ramanuja said there were many first-aiders or lay-rescuers but not qualified paramedics in the country.
“We give a lot of on-the-job, first-aid and emergency training to employees in factories and ambulance drivers in the private sector.
“However, they are not pursuing it full-time.
“A highly-trained paramedic would need to undergo at least three years of certified intensive training in these areas and be able to give efficient on-the-spot emergency treatment,” he said.
Ramanuja said Malaysia was still lagging behind Western countries like Canada and Britain in terms of giving emergency rescue and medical response to victims of a disaster.
“In Canada, paramedics have a degree in pre-hospital care,” he said.
He said ambulance services would normally focus on transporting patients to a hospital instead of giving them the crucial on-the-spot medical attention.
“The authorities should look into this matter very seriously to prevent unnecessary loss of lives,” he said.

Ministries order five-year moratorium on medical courses

Star: PETALING JAYA: The Government will impose a five-year moratorium on medical programmes as an immediate measure to prevent the glut in housemen from becoming worse.
The moratorium will prohibit the launch of new medical programmes in the country. Existing medical schools will be encouraged to focus more on quality.
It is hoped that this would put the brakes on the rise in the number of housemen.
The move – a joint effort between the Higher Education and Health Ministries – is similar to a moratorium in July which stopped the establishment of new nursing colleges and prohibited the launch of diploma programmes in nursing.
“It should stop more higher education institutions from offering new medical programmes,” Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.
“We will be able to meet the national target to have a doctor to population ratio of 1:600 by 2015 and 1:400 by 2020 with the present capacity,” he told The Star.
Mohamed Khaled was referring to existing medical programmes in Malaysia’s 10 public universities; 12 local private providers; foreign medical schools; as well as students who were studying at about 50 accredited foreign universities.
The 1:400 ratio has been achieved by many Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development member nations and is often regarded as the benchmark for a developed nation.
Mohamed Khaled said the ministries would examine the effects of the impending moratorium from time to time as private medical schools were bringing in foreign students and this could not be disrupted.
Both ministries, he said, had always worked closely to ensure quality at medical schools.
This was done through regular joint meetings to resolve issues related to healthcare, accreditation panels, professional development activities and the sharing of hospitals and support staff, among others.
He added that his ministry was committed to ensuring the quality of medical graduates and local medical schools had to possess the “appropriate resources”, such as healthy operating budgets; good infrastructure; competent and experienced medical lecturers; and a commitment to student welfare.
On Nov 27, The Star highlighted concerns about a glut on the number of housemen and the quality of fresh medical graduates.
Subsequently, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai told the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 6 about plans for the moratorium.

Delist poor quality med schools

Star: PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Medical Association wants the Government to stop issuing licences to new medical schools and de-recognise existing ones which are of poor quality.
Its president Dr David Quek said stringent quality mechanisms should also be imposed on existing schools to ensure students are not short-changed.
“If medical schools do not have sufficient teachers or cannot offer adequate patient contact time, their student numbers should be reduced,” he said in an e-mail interview.
Recently, The Star reported that a high number of medical students graduating each year had crowded limited resources resulting in many housemen not having enough patients for adequate training with supervisors being overworked.
Sources also voiced concern that many graduates from lesser-known medical schools did not have adequate core knowledge to treat patients.
Dr Quek urged the Health Ministry to act quickly by sending “weak” new graduates for re-training.
In his blog on MMA News December 2010, he said there were 31,000 doctors and housemen and the Ministry wanted to reduce the doctor-population ratio by achieving 85,000 doctors for a projected 35 million population by 2020.
“This goal of trying to achieve so many doctors in so short a time is happening way too fast and too soon,” he said, adding that the issue was not about doctors wanting to protect their ‘turf’, rather their concern over patient safety.
While there were complaints of a glut in some hospitals, in rural hospitals in Sabah, housemen were complaining of being overworked.
A houseman, who declined to be named, said rural hospitals suffered from a severe lack of doctors and housemen had to work round the clock to care for patients.
“We have to be ‘on-call’ continuously for a whole week and go without sleep on some nights,” he said in an e-mail.
A mother of a houseman based at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Cheras also complained that her daughter’s feet had swelled after having to stand for long hours every day.
Acknowledging that there was a severe shortage of doctors in certain hospitals, Dr Quek said the Health Ministry should work out a better distribution mechanism to overcome the problem.

Too many new doctors and too few hospitals to train them

Star: PETALING JAYA: The number of medical housemen undergoing clinical training in most government hospitals has increased and this has given rise to concern that they may not get sufficient experience.
With new medical schools opening up locally and lower fees being offered at new institutions abroad, around 4,000 Malaysian medical students are expected to graduate annually from 350 universities all over the world in the coming years.
Senior Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) consultant physician Datuk Dr S. Jeyaindran said each specialist was supervising four times as many housemen compared to a decade ago.
“Five years ago, one houseman looked after 10 patients in hospital wards at any one time but now it is one to four patients,” said Dr Jeyaindran, who is HKL department of medicine head and national head for medicine at the Health Ministry.
“The concern is that these interns are seeing fewer patients and hence, have fewer opportunities to carry out adequate procedures. In some hospitals, there are more housemen than patients.”
Dr Jeyaindran said they were not only concerned about the increase in numbers but also their attitude.
“Some lack responsibility towards their patients,” he said, adding that there were also those who did not know how to give an accurate diagnosis and relied too much on investigative tools instead of clinical skills and getting the proper patient history.
Malaysian Medical Council ethics committee chairman Datuk Dr Abdul Hamid Abdul Kadir said several specialists had expressed concern about the large numbers and training hospitals were finding it difficult to cope.
“In the past, it was five housemen in each department but now it could be 20 to 30 for each department,” he said, adding that some specialists were overburdened by the workload.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry was aware of the issue and would be increasing the number of training hospitals.
He said the ideal ratio should be one specialist supervising five housemen with one houseman taking care of 14 hospital beds depending on discipline.
There were 38 hospitals providing training to more than 3,058 housemen last year.
However, the number increased to the current 6,253 housemen since the ministry increased the duration of housemanship from one year to two.
“This led to most hospitals, including those in Sabah and Sarawak, having an excess of housemen,” he said.
Hospitals that were chosen must be able to cater to six areas in which housemen need training – medical, surgical, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, orthopaedic and accident, and emergency, he said.
Liow also said that they would be getting 58 contract specialists from Egypt, India and Pakistan next month to help supervise housemen and reduce the burden of the specialists now.
He also said that the ministry had taken steps to overcome the lack of experience among housemen by making training compulsory for two years instead of one.

More brain docs soon

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: There will be at least two neurosurgeons in each state to provide core neurosurgical works when the Government expands resident services in the discipline, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
Currently, he said, eight states that still did not have resident neurosurgical services were Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Malacca.
“We are now training 26 students to become neurosurgeons and once they graduate, we will be able to have at least two neurosurgeons in all these states,” he told reporters after opening the 8th Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons and 1st Asian Neurosurgical Nursing Cong­ress here yesterday.
Liow said there were currently 74 neurosurgeons in the country with only 45 of them in the public sector.
“There is an acute shortage, especially in the east coast, northern region of the peninsula and East Malaysia.
“However, this is still a vast improvement as in 2004 there were only 36 neurosurgeons in the country,” he said.
However, he did not reveal the number of neurosurgeons needed based on the country’s population.
Liow said a comprehensive local training programme in collaboration with international faculties, which was established in 2001, had increased the number of trained neurosurgeons in the country since 2005.
He said the ministry also hoped to strengthen its six regional centres at Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Sungai Buloh, Penang, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu with at least four neurosurgeons each to provide more advanced sub-speciality neurosurgical works.

Specialist centre to start operating on Jan 1, but minus some major services

Star: KUCHING: A long-delayed public specialist hospital in Samarahan will open by Jan 1, but without some major services that were planned initially.
A well-placed source said the facility would begin operations with heart care only, despite high-tech cancer care equipment already being installed at the facility, formerly known as the Sarawak International Medical Centre.
“At this point, all we know is that cancer care will have to wait. We hope cancer services will be included eventually,” said the source, who asked not to be named.
In June, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan confirmed talk that the facility, which had never been used, would be converted and renamed the Sarawak Heart and Cancer Hospital.
According to several sources, no clear explanation had been given by the Health Ministry over its sudden back-tracking of planned services for the hospital.
One speculation, the source said, was that the Health Ministry was unsure about spending large amounts of money to operate and run a cancer centre in Sarawak, where specialists were scarce.
“It seems we may have to prove our capabilities first, before the original plan can be implemented. In fact, the ministry’s indecision is actually in line with the Economic Transformation Plan. They are calling for track record before spending,” said the source.
The hospital, which is about 20 minutes drive from Kuching city, has long been in the limelight, mostly for the wrong reasons.
It began construction in 2003 but the project was never completed.
The facility, owned by the state government under Sarawak Specialist Hospital & Medical Centre Sdn Bhd, was planned as a top-end private hospital, which could also do research.
Initially, US-based Mayo Clinic was hired as a consultant, but not long after the building started, the non-profit organisation pulled out. No reason was given.
For almost half a decade, the project was left idle and vacant, until the announcement of the turnaround plan earlier this year.
For now, the facility remains a construction site. Two weeks ago, the Association for Wives of Ministers, Assistant Ministers and Assemblymen (Sabati) visited the facility.
What they saw were buildings being cleaned and decontaminated, while cracked walls were fixed and mouldy ceiling boards changed.
It was understood that a few people closely related to the project were trying to get the association to fund minor projects for the hospital, like converting an existing site office into a half-way house.
Association members were brought to see for themselves the best and worst aspects of the facility.
They saw the linear accelerator – a room-sized device used to pinpoint cancer cells – that had been installed, but were told cancer services might not be available.
“Although there are signboards listing cancer services everywhere, the final decision on whether cancer care would be offered will only be made in the coming weeks,” said another personnel.
With plans up in the air again, even the name of the hospital cannot be finalised.
Meanwhile, National Heart Association Malaysia president Prof Dr Sim Kui Hian, said he was aware of the situation.
“We will begin with the Cardiac Unit first. We are already in the process of moving,” he said.
Dr Sim, who heads the Cardiac Unit at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) in Kuching, said he preferred not to speculate on the cancer facilities.
“Whatever happens, the heart unit will be operational no later than Jan 1,” he said.
The hospital would be the first new public medical facility in Kuching since Sarawak General Hospital opened in 1910, he said.
“For us to have gone this far in a few months since the turnaround plan was announced is itself quite an achievement,” Dr Sim added.
However, he said Sarawakians deserved better healthcare.
“There are still too many patients waiting for beds in SGH. The hospital bed-population ratio in Kuching must be improved,” he said.

Health Ministry to spur research in IMR and government hospitals

Star: PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry will work with the Special Innovation Unit (Unik) to patent and commercialise innovative products produced by the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) and government hospitals, said Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
The Minister said the IMR and government hospitals had come out with various innovative products that could benefit the public.
“The Health Ministry lauds the setting up of Unik under the Prime Minister’s Department and we hope the unit will spur innovation programmes among government agencies,” he said after opening his ministry’s Innovation Day at Putrajaya International Convention Centre here yesterday.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, when tabling Budget 2011, had announced the setting up of Unik to assist research and development in universities and research centres so that innovative products produced by them could be commercialised.
Later, when opening the The 2010 Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Liow said the generic pharmaceutical products industry would contribute US$5bil (RM15.4bil) in revenue for the country by 2020.
In this regard, he urged bioequivalent (BE) research centres to study quality generic products due to the high demand domestically and internationally because of their lower prices and easy availability.
“At present, there are only six BE centres in Malaysia. This number has to be increased because by 2012, the ministry will make it mandatory for all generic pharmaceutical products to be tested by BE centres so as to ensure only quality products are marketed,” he said.
The three-day seminar, organised by the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau (NPCB), was attended by participants from 40 countries.

Liow said the ministry was now allowing doctors in the private sector to work in government clinics and hospitals on a contract basis.
He said the move was taken following discussions between the ministry and the Malaysian Medical Association in the wake of complaints that the 1Malaysia clinics had affected the income of doctors running private clinics.
On the health situation in Kedah and Perlis which had been hit by massive floods, Liow said only one case of viral infection had been reported in Perlis, adding that the patient had high fever and was being treated at a hospital.

Only 233 psychiatrists to treat 28 million Malaysians

Star: IPOH: Malaysia is running short of psychiatrists. Health Ministry technical adviser on psychiatry Datuk Dr Suaran Singh Jasmit Singh said the country only has 233 psychiatrists to treat the population, which works out to a ratio of 0.8:100,000.
“The ideal ratio is 1:50,000,” he said after the opening of a public forum on handling stress at Ipoh City Hall yesterday.
Dr Suaran, who is Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta director, said of the 233 psychiatrists available, 15 were attached with the Health Ministry and three with the Defence Ministry.
He added that there were 22 psychiatrists in Perak.
“Their number is just enough to cope with the workload,” he said, reiterating the need for more psychiatrists.
Dr Suaran, however, said that more people were willing to take up psychiatry, which was quite a new medical discipline in Malaysia.
“The ministry is working to increase the number of psychiatrists in the country,” he added.
He noted that the country also had 55 private psychiatrists, but almost 45% of them were based in the Klang Valley.
On the public forum, Dr Suaran said it was organised in conjunction with Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta’s 100th anniversary to educate the public on coping with stress.
Perak executive council member Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon, who opened the forum, said mental illness must be treated.
“People with such illnesses need help and there are a lot of new treatments available,” he said, adding that psychiatric patients also required good care and support from their family members.

Specialist shortage is the heart of the matter

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: About 2,000 to 3,000 children in Malaysia need to undergo cardiothoracic surgery every year but both public and private hospitals can only cater to 1,200 of them due to the lack of specialists in the field, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
He said there were about 180 cardiologists and 58 cardiothoracic surgeons in Malaysia, of whom only 26 cardiologists and 14 cardiothoracic surgeons were in ministry hospitals.
“Treatment for heart diseases is almost unreachable to some due to the rising cost of heart operations and the scarcity of cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons,” he said.
Due to these reasons, the Government had been sending children from poor families to the Naraya Hrudayalaya Hospital in Bangalore, India, for cardiothoracic surgery.
“From July 2008 until Oct 5, 138 children, the majority aged between one and five, have successfully undergone surgery,” he told a press conference after witnessing a joint venture signing ceremony between AriyaDana Equities Sdn Bhd and Narayana Hrudayalaya Pvt Ltd here yesterday.
The deal is a business plan to invest in an existing specialist medical centre in Nilai and collaboration to manage and operate the hospital, which will be known as the Narayana International Medical Centre.
AriyaDana Equities director Nathan Mahalingam said the hospital would initially be refurbished to have 100 beds in six months and upgraded in stages.
“An investment of more than RM250mil will be made within the first five years to achieve this objective,” he said.
Narayana Hrudayalaya chairman Dr Devi Prasad Shetty said a team of cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons would be brought in from Bangalore to join the existing 160 medical staff at the medical centre.
He said the medical centre would be able to conduct cardiothoracic surgery that would cost between 20% and 25% cheaper than other hospitals here.

Malaysia to carry out landmark GM mosquito trial

AFP: KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's health minister Sunday said the country would carry out a landmark field trial by releasing genetically modified mosquitoes designed to combat dengue fever by the end of the year.
Liow Tiong Lai said the delayed field trials, which were to have begun this month, were now back on track as laboratory tests had been done and the country's biosafety board had approved the mosquitoes' release into a controlled environment.
"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the GM anti-dengue mosquito trial will take place by the end of this year," Liow told AFP.
"On my side everything is clear. Now it's under the ministry of natural resources and environment, who will submit the plan to cabinet for final approval," he said.
Malaysia's death rate from dengue fever has spiralled 53 percent this year and the public is being urged to take action to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes -- which spread dengue -- from homes and workplaces.
Liow's comments came ahead of a World Health Organization regional meeting starting on Monday in the Malaysian capital.
WHO regional director Shin Young-Soo welcomed the field trials.
"Over the last 10 years the number of dengue cases in the world has doubled and the situation this year is significantly worse than last year, so we welcome how Malaysia is responding to this threat," he said.
In the first experiment of its kind in Asia, 2,000-3,000 male Aedes mosquitoes are to be released in two Malaysian states.
The insects in the study have been engineered so that their offspring quickly die, curbing the growth of the population in a technique researchers hope could eventually eradicate the dengue mosquito altogether.
Females of the Aedes species are responsible for spreading dengue fever.
However, environmentalists are concerned the GM mosquito could fail to prevent dengue and could also have unintended consequences.
Critics have said the larvae will only die if their environment is free of tetracycline, an antibiotic commonly used for medical and veterinary purposes.
Dengue infection leads to a sudden onset of fever with severe headaches, muscle and joint pains, and rashes, which can lead to death if left untreated.

Understand menopause better, women urged

Star: PETALING JAYA: Many Malaysian women are suffering unnecessarily from menopausal symptoms due to a lack of understanding and a negative perception on treatment methods, said Malaysian Menopause Society president Dr Ho Choon Moy.
She said a survey by Universiti Malaya’s Health Research Development Unit revealed that more than 60% of middle-aged women appeared to be lacking in knowledge about health risks associated with menopause.
On top of that, only 6% of women seek hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in Malaysia, she said, adding that more could be done to increase awareness about menopause. Symptoms associated with menopause such as incontinence, hot flashes, excessive sweating, depression, memory loss, weight gain and osteoporosis can be treated, Dr Ho said at a press conference in conjunction with a World Menopause Day 2010 forum here yesterday.
She said a Women Health Initiative study in 2002 had wrongly created some negative reaction towards HRT treatment.
While there was no increased risk of breast cancer among women who took HRT in less than five years, the study claimed there was an increase of just eight cases (in every 10,000 women) among those who took HRT for more than five years.
“It is actually very low,” said Dr Ho, adding “what people failed to see were the many benefits – prevention of osteoporosis, good skin and teeth, good well-being, 30% increase of lifespan and a better quality of life.”
On herbal remedies, studies in Asia showed that 30% of women take natural or herbal remedies, she said.
On whether menopause could lead to suicide, Dr Ho said severe depression symptom was uncommon.
They were usually nothing more than mood swings, irritability and mild depression, she said.
“Women suffering from depression should get themselves checked to determine whether it was due to menopause or a psychiatric problem,” she said.

Malaysia To Celebrate World Organ Donation Week

Bernama: KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 (Bernama) -- For the first time, Malaysia will celebrate World Organ Donation Week with various programmes, aimed at increasing awareness in the registration of pledges to donate organs or tissues after death.
The 2010 Organ Donation Week will be held at the Astaka, Taman Titiwangsa, beginning Oct 17.
Its highlight is the 'Heart Talk' programme jointly organised by the National Heart Institute and IJN Foundation, as tribute to the sacrifices of organ donors and their families.
It also enables organ recipients to express gratitude for a chance at life.
According to Datin Dr Lela Yasmin Mansor, chief national transplant procurement manager of the National Transplant Resource Centre, Kuala Lumpur Hospital, organ donation was always remembered in most developed nations.
For the first time, Malaysia was also celebrating the event, she said Thursday.
The programme will begin with the Life Saver Walk Hunt in the morning, followed by an aerobic exercise before ending with the launch of the Organ Donation Week 2010.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai will officiate the donation week.

Liow To Doctors: Come Back And Serve The Country

Bernama: DUBLIN, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai urged Malaysian medical specialists who are currently working abroad to return and serve their home country.
Saying that although they could show patriotism anywhere in the world, it would be more meaningful if they could return to Malaysia and help strengthen its medical sector which was still facing shortage of specialists.
"We need them. They can either work in government or private hospitals," he said after meeting 22 Malaysian doctors and specialists here.
Liow said that at the meeting, several doctors expressed willingness to return while others said they needed more time to consider the matter and to gain more experience.
The government, Liow said, would provide facilities for the returning specialists in terms of promotions and salaries, saying the government would not stop them from joining the private sector.
Those working with the government would also be provided with assistance to further their studies and that they would be considered for promotions in various grades such as the UD43, UD47, UD51 and UD53 depending on their experience and qualifications.
At the meeting, Liow told them of the various improvements implemented by the government in the medical service especially in the specialist sector.
He said that time-based promotions had been implemented which allowed UD41 house officers to achieve the UD54 grade in 12 years, for non-specialists, and in nine years for specialists.
Doctors in government service also had ample training opportunities through programmes such as the "Open Master's Programme" which was given to 600 doctors since 2008 and would be increased to 800 next year, he said.
Also present at the meeting were Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk S.K. Devamany and Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Richard Riot.
Meanwhile, Dr Tidi Maharani Hassan, one of the specialists at the meeting, expressed regret over the perception that doctors who served abroad were wasting the government's money.
Dr Tidi Maharani, who at 27 is the youngest specialist in Dublin, said many Malaysian doctors decided to serve abroad to gain experience which would be useful when they later return to serve their home country.
The pulmonologist said she was grateful for all the assistance given by the government but said that she took up employment abroad because of the laboratory facilities available apart from the training given.
Another doctor, Dr Kama Muhammad, 38, a consultant surgeon, urged the government to carry out improvements in all aspects of the medical service, not just in terms of the salary scales.

Six health institutes to come under one roof

Star: KUCHING: Six research institutes under the Health Ministry will be brought together under one roof to better serve the people.
The institutes for Medical Research, and of Public Health, Health Management, Health System Management, Health Behaviour Research and Clinical Research Centre will be housed in the proposed 1National Institutes of Health (1NIH) integrated complex in Setia Alam, Shah Alam. They are currently spread all over town.
Health Deputy Director-General Datuk Dr Maimunah Abdul Hamid disclosed that the Cabinet had approved the project which would be developed in a few years. The building cost has not yet been ascertained.
“We want all the six research institutes under the ministry under one roof,” she told reporters after opening the state Health Research Day in conjunction with Sarawak General Hospital’s 100th anniversary yesterday. “They were spread out because they were created one after the other.”
She said it was important for these centres to come together since health issues were interconnected.
“A lot of problems are not answered by one research question.
“Take dengue, for example. It involves research on the virus itself, people’s behaviour and how to deal with it.
“It’s all integrated,” she said.
Dr Maimunah also said the ministry would work with the tourism sector to promote healthcare to foreigners, especially those in the region and the Middle East.

Johns Hopkins University to set up medical school and hospital in Malaysia

Star: NEW YORK: The world-renowned teaching and research medical institution Johns Hopkins University will be setting up a medical school and hospital in Malaysia.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said a site at Serdang in Selangor had been picked to set up the facilities, which would become a medical research hub for the region.
The medical school, he said, would offer a four-year programme, adding that it would be a private initiative between Malaysian and American investors.
It will be Malaysia’s first private teaching hospital with research facilities.
Speaking to Malaysian newsmen here on Friday evening, he said an agreement would be signed early next month.
The Prime Minister did not give details of the project but it is understood that a Malaysian public listed company would be involved in the medical city plan, estimated to cost RM1.8bil.
There are Johns Hopkins University campuses in China, Singapore, Italy and the United States. The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, is a private, non-profit institution.
Earlier, Najib met Dr Mohan Chellappa, the president of Global Ventures, Johns Hopkins Medicine International, where the Prime Minister was believed to be given an update on the 600-bed private hospital.
The prime minister said Johns Hopkins Medical International was a world-renowned medical school and had adopted a different curriculum compared to other schools.
“They are using the ‘Genes to Society’ curriculum, which is a more personalised medical approach,” he said, adding that the school provided a four-year programme and planned to take 100 students each year.
“Johns Hopkins has got a very good name. The idea is to create Malaysia as a hub,” he added.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai in welcoming the move said the presence of such a prestigious research facility in the country would boost Malaysia’s health tourism industry.
This, he said, was another feather in the cap for the country’s healthcare industry and would also prompt more Malaysian-born specialists and other health care professionals to come back and serve in the country.
Liow is currently in London in an effort to persuade Malaysian professionals involved in healthcare to return home and serve the country.
“I am here to convince them to return home and serve. I believe many will find it more gratifying to work in Malaysia now,” he said when contacted.
He is also speaking to Malaysian medical students and fresh graduates to convince them to return home once they complete their studies.

Firm working on vaccine to treat HFMD

Star: GEORGE TOWN: A Malaysia-based biotech company is set to develop a vaccine in eight years for the EV71 virus, which causes the infectious and potentially fatal hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).
The company embarking on this ambitious task is Sentinext Therapeutics Sdn Bhd with its laboratory in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang.
Its chief scientific officer Prof Dr Jane Cardosa said there was currently no vaccine or anti-viral agent to prevent or treat EV71 infection.
She added that the lab had found a vaccine candidate and was going through pre-clinical tests.
“Hopefully after 18 months, we can move to Phase 1 where we will test its safety on humans followed by efficacy trials (Phase 2). If the vaccine is taken up when it is (fully) developed, children can be protected from EV71, HFMD and some other diseases,” she said at a media briefing in USM yesterday.
“However, we won’t see the end of HFMD as it can still be caused by other viruses.”
The 59-year-old professor retired as Universiti Sarawak Malaysia Institute of Health and Community Medicine director in late August and is now a visiting professor at USM.
The vaccine being developed by Sentinext Therapeutics is a significant breakthrough because the EV71 virus has been consistently causing outbreaks of HFMD in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Prof Cardosa said the Singapore government had funded a company to research and develop a vaccine for the virus but it ceased operations after running out of funds.
The China government has also invested in a similar project but has a different approach from what Prof Cardosa’s lab is doing.
“Our vaccine is formulated from empty capsids to mimic the virus particle but there is no genome. So, it is not infectious,” she said.
Sentinext Therapeutics received a RM40mil fund from the Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund and Malaysian Technology Development Corp.
Besides developing and researching a vaccine for EV71, the company is also looking at vaccines for other tropical infectious diseases like malaria and dengue.

Rules on healthcare ads relaxed, says Liow

Star: PUTRAJAYA: Private healthcare providers will now be able to advertise their services in all mediums following the government’s decision to liberalise provisions under the Medicines (Advertisement and Sales) Act 1965, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
Liow said this would allow private healthcare providers to make their services available to both locals and foreigners.
He said the move was in line with the Government’s decision to promote health tourism in Malaysia and raise the number of foreigners coming here by 20% annually from 336,000 visitors last year.
The liberalisation would also ensure that Malaysia maintained its competitiveness in attracting health tourists.
“The liberalisation of the provisions, which comes into effect immediately, will allow private hospitals, clinics and even dental clinics to advertise their facilities and services in newspapers, the electronic media and on the Internet as well as put up banners to announce new facilities.
“They can also advertise abroad but they will have to abide by the laws in those countries as well as the laws here.
“They can mention the latest equipment or treatment they have but they are not to use superlatives like ‘best’ or make comparisons,” he told a press conference after attending his ministry’s Hari Raya celebration.
Before this, private healthcare providers were only allowed to advertise through healthcare magazines and related publications and were not allowed to place advertisements outside Malaysia.
Liow said to further help the industry’s growth, the ministry’s Medicines Advertising Board had also shortened the time to approve applications for advertisements from six weeks to between three and five days now.
He however warned that the ministry would keep close tabs on advertisements related to the industry and those flouting the law would face a fine of up to RM3,000 and a year’s jail or both for the first offence and up to RM5,000 fine or two years’ jail or both for subsequent offences.
He said healthcare providers could go to www.pharmacy,gov.my or contact the ministry’s secretariat on medical advertisements at 03-7841 3200.
He said the ministry would also launch a large-scale campaign against dengue in Kelantan after the number of cases in the state rose by 160%

Malaysia's dengue death rate spirals 53 percent this year

AFP: KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia said Monday its dengue fever death rate spiralled 53 percent this year, but backed away from a controversial trial of releasing genetically modified mosquitoes to wipe out the disease.
"There was a major rise in deaths due to dengue fever, with 107 deaths so far this year compared to 70 deaths for the same period last year," said deputy premier Muhyiddin Yassin.
Muhyiddin said the majority of the deaths could have been avoided, and urged the public to take action to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes -- which spread dengue -- from their homes and workplaces.
"We have identified 19 hotspots throughout the country where the disease is prevalent, and action is being taken to tackle the situation in these areas," he said.
However, Muhyiddin was cool on a plan to release genetically modified mosquitoes designed to combat dengue fever, in a proposed landmark field trial that has come in for criticism from environmentalists.
In the first experiment of its kind in Asia, 2,000-3,000 male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were to be released in two Malaysian states in October or November if the plan had won government support.
The insects in the study have been engineered so that their offspring quickly die, curbing the growth of the population in a technique researchers hope could eventually eradicate the dengue mosquito altogether.
Females of the Aedes species are responsible for spreading dengue fever.
Muhyiddin said the project would not be implemented "at the moment".
"Seemingly it is quite an interesting (solution) to deal with such a problem but I think... not until and unless every aspect of research being carried out is clinically tested and... environmental issues have been addressed," he said.
"And of course most importantly at the end of the day, it is endorsed by international organisations -- that it is something we can apply for the purposes of dealing with the epidemic."
The development is a boon for environmentalists who were were concerned the GM mosquito could fail to prevent dengue and could also have unintended consequences.
Critics have said the larvae will only die if their environment is free of tetracycline, an antibiotic commonly used for medical and veterinary purposes.
The field trial for the GM anti-dengue mosquitoes was developed by a British-based insect bio-tech company, Oxitec, and was to be undertaken by the Malaysia's Institute for Medical Research, an agency under the health ministry.
Dengue infection leads to a sudden onset of fever with severe headaches, muscle and joint pains, and rashes.
The virus has historically been found in tropical regions, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas, but has spread in recent years to colder and higher places and is now endemic in more than 100 countries.

Liow: Lack of child nutrition a concern

Star: BENTONG: New mothers should breastfeed their babies for at least six months.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said there was a drop in the number of mothers who continuously breastfed their babies for at least four months, from 29% to 19% between 1996 and 2006.
“This shows we need to raise awareness to encourage more mothers to breastfeed.
“The first six months are crucial for the child’s growth, so good nutrition, especially mother’s milk is crucial before introducing the child to semi-solids or solids,” he told reporters yesterday after handing out food hampers to 52 malnourished children in Bentong Hospital.
On the large number of malnourished children up to six years old in the country, Liow urged local and district health authorities to strengthen monitoring and raising awareness among parents, especially in rural areas, to provide adequate nutrition for their children.
“In Malaysia, the practice of ensuring proper nutrition for infants is less than satisfactory,” he said.
Liow added there were 11,796 undernourished children nationwide, half of whom were in the rural areas.
He said undernourished children were usually from poverty-stricken families or those whose diets were not nutritionally balanced.
He said the National Health and Morbidity Survey in 2006 also showed that only 41.4% of Malaysian infants were given proper nutrition.
“The time from birth to two years old is the most critical. If a child is malnourished at this stage and suffers stunted growth, it will not be easy to remedy when the child grows older,” he cautioned.
On another matter, Liow said the Cabinet had given the go-ahead for a national council for local government aimed at stopping the spread of dengue. It would be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The first inter-agency coordination meeting led by the Housing and Local Government and Health Ministries would be held after Hari Raya, he said.
“This meeting will include executive councillors from all states. We need to find ways and means to fight dengue in a more concerted effort,” he said.