Sime Darby, Ramsay Health in Southeast Asia JV Talks

Fox Business
Malaysia's Sime Darby Bhd. (4197.KU) and Australia's Ramsay Health Care Ltd. (RHC.AU) are in talks to form a joint venture that combines several hospitals in Southeast Asia, a person familiar with the matter said.

The move comes as rising incomes and an aging population in the region prompt healthcare companies to seek greater scale. Healthcare assets are largely shielded from swings in economic growth, making them appealing as a defensive investment for companies seeking exposure to emerging economies.

The boards of both companies are yet to approve the venture, which will include six hospitals and an education facility from Sime Darby's healthcare unit and Ramsay's Indonesian division.

Sime Darby's healthcare unit reported fiscal 2012 profit before interest and tax of 26 million Malaysian ringgit (US$8.4 million), a figure expected to grow significantly with the contribution from two newly opened hospitals in Malaysia.

Sime's contribution to the joint venture includes those hospitals plus another in Malaysia named Subang Jaya, which have a combined total of 910 beds. It also includes the Sime Darby Nursing and Health Sciences College, which provides programs approved by Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education.

Ramsay will inject its entire Indonesian unit, which last month reported half-year earnings before interest, or Ebit, of 33 billion Indonesian rupiah (US$3.4 million). Two of the group's hospitals are in Jakarta, while one is in Surabaya.

Sime will receive between MYR300 million and MYR400 million from Ramsay to ensure the joint venture is evenly split, and Ramsay has discussed the payment with its banking syndicate, the person said.

Ramsay said in November 2011 that it had an underwritten debt facility worth 2 billion Australian dollars (US$2 billion) from banks including ANZ Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ.AU), Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU).

The vehicle could have a market value of more than MYR1.55 billion, based on earnings multiples of listed Malaysian healthcare companies such as KPJ Healthcare Bhd. (5878.KU).

It will seek to make acquisitions in Southeast Asia, and may pursue an initial public offering on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, the person familiar said.

If the joint venture talks are successful, Sime Darby--the world's largest listed palm-oil producer by acreage--will be freer to focus on its other businesses that range from property development to automobile assembly.

Yearly upgrade for government hospitals

The Star Online

TAMPIN: At least five government hospitals will be upgraded into specialist centres every year to give people, particularly those living in rural areas, better access to medical experts.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said his ministry had been giving out 800 scholarships to its doctors annually, beginning last year, for them to pursue specialist courses in order to achieve this.

“We are facing an acute shortage of specialists in some areas and this has to be addressed quickly,” he said during a visit to the newly-built RM138mil Tampin Hospital.

At present, only 55 out of the 140 government health facilities nationwide are categorised as specialist hospitals.

Although the number of doctors serving the civil service numbered around 35,000, there were only 3,5000 specialists on the Govern-ment's payroll.

Liow said there was also a dire need to increase the number of specialists as patients in some areas had to travel quite a distance for expert treatment.

“The ideal situation is to have three specialists in the same field at every hospital and we hope to achieve this one day,” he said.

Liow also announced the construction of a new hospital in the neighbouring Rembau district.

“This has been long overdue. In fact, I have been made to understand that the Public Works Department had called for tenders earlier this week,” he said.

Liow thanked Works Minister Datuk Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor for the quick completion of several Health Ministry projects.

Citing examples, he said the construction of the Putrajaya Cancer Institute, the Womens' and Childrens' Centre in Seremban and several projects in Kelantan and Sarawak had been completed ahead of schedule.

Shaziman, who was also present, said the PWD had set up special teams to monitor government projects, particularly the construction of health facilities.

On the new Tampin Hospital, Shaziman, who is also Tampin MP, said the ultra modern 108-bed facility was almost completed and would be handed over to the Health Ministry next month.

“Since I am the MP for Tampin, my constituents had frequently asked me why we did not have a modern hospital and had to be referred to other hospitals for treatment.

“We hope it will be quickly turned into a specialist hospital,” Shaziman added.

Health Department intensifies HFMD screening

BorneoPost Online

PREVENTIVE MEASURE: A teacher gets preschoolers to wash their hands as a precaution to keep HFMD at bay.

SIBU: The state Health Department is doubling its efforts to screen children for hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) at nurseries and kindergartens throughout the state as the disease has reached epidemic level in Miri and Sibu divisions.

And on their part, teachers should adopt precautionary measures by screening children before letting them off from schools, state health director Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan told The Borneo Post yesterday.

“They (teachers and caretakers) must practise a high standard of hygiene and cleanliness at all times, including by thoroughly washing their hands with soap after visiting the toilet,” he added.

Miri and Sibu recorded 564 and 342 cases of the disease respectively from the beginning of this year till Feb 23.

Meanwhile, Association of Kindergarten Teachers in Sibu, Sarikei and Kapit Divisions chairperson Wong Mee Hoon revealed that their members carried out checks on the children at school gates daily.

“The measure suggested by the Health Department is effective in keeping out the disease since children suspected with HFMD are asked to go home and prevented from entering the classrooms,” she stated.

She said the precautionary measure had been implemented since the new school term began.

Other measures, Wong disclosed, included exposing toys under the sun to kill the germs.

“Toilets and classrooms are washed twice daily before and after lessons. They are also disinfected as we want the children to study in a clean, safe and hygienic environment,” she stressed.

Elsewhere in rural areas, Dr Zulkifli said that educational programmes were on-going in the outskirts to curb the spread of HFMD.

“The programmes are geared towards increasing the level of awareness of HFMD among the rural folk. These include advising them to practise self-isolation if their children are sick to prevent the spread of the disease,” he said.

Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development and Selangau MP Datuk Joseph Entulu advised village security and development committees (JKKKs) to impress on longhouse residents the importance of maintaining a high level of hygiene and cleanliness at all times.

“Be aware of the HFMD symptoms and send children for immediate medical attention when sick,” Entulu advised them.

Association of Longhouse Chiefs Sibu (PTRS) advisor Penghulu James Semilan, meanwhile, urged parents to keep an eye on their children to ensure that they do not play in dirty rivers or places that can pose risk to their health.

Semilan, too, emphasised the importance of maintaining surroundings so as to keep diseases at bay.

“Whenever, your child is not feeling well, don’t wait but go see a doctor immediately,” he advised.

Smoke-free Malaysia very much in sight

The Malay Mail

BREATH CHECK: Liow tests a carbon monoxide analyser at the launch of the Blue Ribbon Campaign — Pic: ASHRAF SHAMSUL AZLAN

GROWING public support shows a strong desire to move towards a 100 per cent smoke-free environment, says Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Launching the Blue Ribbon Campaign yesterday at the Sunway Medical Centre, the health minister said 83.5 per cent of Malaysian adults supported an indoor smoking ban.

“What we need to do now is move towards 100 per cent smoke free environment.

"It is the only effective strategy to reduce exposure to tobacco smoke indoors to safe levels and to provide an acceptable level of protection from the dangers of second hand smoke exposure,” he said.

Database to address fears of medical community

|The Star Online

PETALING JAYA: The national database on performance in patient safety will address the fears of the medical community.

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr S. R. Manalan said doctors and nurses feared being penalised when they made errors.

“They try to cover them up, which leads to bigger problems.

“The data collection process could remove that fear and see how these errors can be prevented,” he said.

Dr Manalan advised the National Patient Safety Council not to rush the implementation of the national database.

Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) president Datuk Dr Jacob Thomas said patient safety should be given due attention.

“APHM is represented in the council and is endorsing and leading this effort,” he said.

It was reported in Sunday Star that medical establishments will have to report regularly to the council on 13 key patient safety goals.

The Health Ministry's pharmaceutical services division is tasked with monitoring and analysing cases like medication error for the database.

Its senior director Datuk Eisah A. Rahman said that from the database, which will be set up within the year, the division would be able to identify areas to improve.

Plan to link all hospitals and clinics via electronic system

The Star Online

PUTRAJAYA: All public hospitals and clinics will be able to share data with each other under a plan by the Health Ministry to electronically link these institutions.

The Healthcare IT system, which is currently being developed by Mimos Bhd, is expected to be ready in a year.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the system would eventually connect all 142 hospitals and over 1,000 health, mother and child, and dental clinics within a network.

“They will be able to share data, which will improve their services tremendously. Currently, the hospitals and clinics operate on a closed system, under which even the Putrajaya Hospital cannot communicate' with the Serdang Hospital,” he said at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Mimos here yesterday.

Liow said the initiative, to be implemented in phases, would entail massive development to the country's health system.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, who was also present, said that under the MoU, the Health Ministry would collaborate with Mimos in the development, implementation and proliferation of the Healthcare IT framework.

The first phase of the initiative, he said, would involve the enhancement of the Malaysia Health Information Exchange (MyHIX), a system which enables the exchange of medical records among hospitals and clinics in a smooth and secure manner.

It will also enhance the Malaysian Health Data Warehouse (MyHDW), a data analysis centre for the planning, research and monitoring of the healthcare system and the Sistem Maklumat Rawatan Perubatan (SMRP), an ongoing web-based medical treatment report system linking all hospitals in the country.

Dr Ongkili said the system would also involve Mimos' cloud computing technologies in mitigating cost issues and increasing ICT usage in public health and dental clinics nationwide.

Ministry relaxes pharmacists' training scope

New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has liberalised the training scope of provisionally registered pharmacists (PRP) with a view of increasing the pharmacist-people ratio of 1:2,000 by 2016, as well as increasing the number of registered pharmacists in the country.

Pharmaceutical services senior director Datuk Eisah Abdul Rahman said through the liberalisation process, pharmacy graduates can now go through their training outside of government hospitals and facilities.

"They can undergo their PRP training at private pharmacy facilities, such as private hospitals, industries, in research and development and community pharmacies," she said at the opening of Cosway's 100th pharmacy store in Bandar Sri Damansara, here, yesterday.

The compulsory training introduced in 2004 was also shortened from a three-year period to only one year and was made effective in September 2011.

The move, she said, was to encourage local pharmacists to get involved in the private pharmaceutical sector.

"We welcome applications from community pharmacies to be listed as training facilities for graduates.

"Those interested will have to get recognition through the accreditation of community pharmacy programme under the Malaysian Pharmacy Board."

Eisah said the premises must also fulfil the rules and regulations set in the 2011 Community Pharmacy Benchmarking Guidelines.

As of Jan 31, the current pharmacist-people ratio stood at 1:2,947, with a total number of 10,250 pharmacists registered in the country.

The opening of the 100th Cosway pharmacy store was attended by Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan and Cosway Corporation chief executive officer Al Chuah.

(From left) Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan, Pharmaceutical services senior director Datuk Eisah Abdul Rahman and Cosway Corp-oration CEO Al Chuah at the opening of Cosway’s 100th pharmacy store in Bandar Sri Damansara. Pic by S. Sugumaran

Cosway aims to be biggest retail pharmacy player

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Cosway (M) Sdn Bhd continues to expand its network in Malaysia with a plan to open 200 Cosway Pharmacy retail stores nationwide in the next one year, thus making it the biggest retail pharmacy player in Malaysia.

To date the company has established 100 pharmacy stores across the country and its goal is to strengthen its network to 1,000 stores within a five-year period.

Cosway is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berjaya Corp Bhd.

Cosway managing director Al Chuah said on average the company invested close to RM150,000 per store, adding that the cost might vary depending on the conditions.

“The new pharmacy stores will involve incorporation within existing Cosway stores and a private-owned pharmacies as well as a completely new Cosway Pharmacy store,” he said after the launch of the Cosway Pharmacy 100th store yesterday.

For the 100th store, Chuah said it was converted from a local-owned pharmacy and Cosway had invested RM120,000 to renovate it.

On average, a Cosway Pharmacy has the potential to make record sales of between RM80,000 and RM90,000 per month.

When asked on the company's strategy to compete with other retail pharmacy players, Chuah said one of its strategies was its wide range of products offered.

He said Cosway had more than 2,000 consumer products with an average of about 10 new products introduced per month.

“As part of our strategies to compete with other players, we also have the Berjaya rewards card and at the moment we are collaborating withMaxis to create a medical device to measure the glucose level in our blood system,” Chuah said.

A representative from Cosway said the collaboration would be announced latest by end-March this year.

Cosway Pharmacy has been selected under the ministry's liberalisation of attachment trainings for pharmacist. With the programme, pharmacists who fulfil the attachment under Cosway have a chance to be awarded a free store. The pharmacy store is referred to as a free store, whereby Cosway bears the rental, utilities and also supplies products on consignment.

The company also targets to tap the Philippine market this year.

“Our model to penetrate this market is via direct selling and working with local pharmacy owners by renting spaces to sell our products. We are going to focus on customers that are interested in beauty and health products,” Chuah said.

National database on patient safety to be set up

The Star Online

PETALING JAYA: A national database on performance in patient safety will be set up within the year. The data collected will be used to implement measures that will better safeguard people against preventable medical harm.

The database will require the participation of public and private healthcare organisations to monitor, evaluate and further improve the status of key areas of patient safety.

It will contain data from private and public medical centres, which will ensure the availability of better statistics on patient safety throughout the country.

Such a database will enable healthcare professionals to improve their performances because they will then have baseline data for comparison.

The National Patient Safety Council secretariat said the database will utilise 13 key patient safety goals, with their accompanying performance indicators that medical establishments will have to report on regularly to the council.

“In addition to the patient safety goals, an incident reporting and learning system has been established for government hospitals and health clinics, as well as dental clinics,” according to the secretariat.

“There are 29 incidents that need to be monitored and these include injury to newborn children during delivery, medication error resulting in an adverse result or death, and wrong surgery.”

Previously in the Health Ministry and a number of private healthcare facilities, patient safety was assessed in terms of compliance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Patient Safety Challenges and local patient safety activities.

Patient safety has increasingly become an important agenda, enough for the WHO to declare it a fundamental principle of healthcare.

The goals, strategies, key performance indicators and targets for the proposed database were drawn up based on Health Ministry and international standards, discussions with key stakeholders, and input from WHO advisers.

Health Ministry mulls incentives for opening community pharmacies @ Sun Feb 24 2013

MI

PETALING JAYA, Feb 24 — The Health Ministry is considering providing incentives to encourage the private sector to set up Community Pharmacy in rural areas. Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said such incentives was necessary to overcome a shortage of Community Pharmacies in rural areas. 

"The Ministry views the situation (lack of pharmacies in rural areas) seriously as many such pharmacies are only mushrooming in the city and concentrated in certain regions," he told reporters after opening the 100th Cosway Pharmacy outlet in Damansara, near here, today. 

Liow in his speech text that was read by the Health Ministry's Pharmaceutical services division director Datuk Eisah A Rahman, said according to the ministry's statistics, there are 10,006 registered pharmacies and 1,834 Community Pharmacies throughout the country. 

The concentration of Community Pharmacies is in Selangor (where there are 433 pharmacies), Penang (213), Kuala Lumpur (201) and Johor (157). 

He said realising the lack of pharmacies in rural areas and inequitable distribution, the Health Ministry was looking into a zoning system to distribute pharmacies accordingly in urban and rural areas so that the people would not be deprived of such facilities. 

Liow said to ensure an equitable distribution of pharmacies in the country, the ministry and the Malaysian Pharmacy Association had developed the Malaysian Healthcare Providers Mapping Service. Currently, the ratio of pharmacists to the population in Malaysia is 1:2,947 people and by 2016 it is expected to reach the optimum ratio of 1:2,000 people set by the World Health Organisation. — Bernama

Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah is new Health D-G - Nation

The Star Online

Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, been appointed Health director-general, effective March 1

KUALA LUMPUR: Health Ministry deputy director-general (medical)Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has been appointed director-general, effective March 1.

His appointment to replace Datuk Seri Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman was announced Thursday by Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ali Hamsa.

In a statement, Dr Ali said Dr Noor Hisham's appointment, which was approved by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, was based on his experience and knowledge in the medical field.

Having held the post of deputy director-general since Feb 1, 2008, he was also the Putrajaya Hospital surgical department head and consultant breast and endocrine surgeon in 2007, Putrajaya Hospital general surgery medical officer in 2004 and general surgeon in 1994.

Dr Noor Hisham, 50, who has a masters in surgery and medical doctorate degree from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, joined the civil service as a medical officer in August 1988.

"I believe his experience, knowledge, expertise and credibility can ensure the country's health agenda and goals are executed, and the people get the best medical service," said Dr Ali.

The post felt vacant following the demotion of Dr Hasan Rahman last year.

Dr Hasan was demoted by one grade following his khalwat case in November. - Bernama

Health Ministry to push for more haemodialysis centres nationwide

The Star Online

PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry is pushing a new policy focused on opening up more haemodialysis centres nationwide, as the country faces a rising number of patients with chronic renal disease.

Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the number of patients suffering from End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) has more than tripled in the past decade, with a total of 26,159 patients undergoing treatment in 2011 compared with just 7,837 patients in 2001.

"This is a new policy, where we want to set up haemodialysis centres in health clinics that have the space to spare.

"However, we don't have enough money so the ministry will apply for extra funds from the Finance Ministry," he said at a press conference here Tuesday after receiving haemodialysis machines donated by Lembaga Tabung Haji.

Liow said as at 2011, the country had a total of 7,088 haemodialysis machines set up at public and private centres and those run by non-governmental organisations.

However, he declined to give specific figures on how many more machines were needed to best serve patients nationwide, pointing out that it would depend on how much funding was received from the Government.

Dr Pornthip ready to do Sugumaran’s second autopsy

MI

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand has agreed to perform a second autopsy on security guard C. Sugumaran who allegedly died from a police beating, Sugumaran’s family lawyers said today. 

Dr Pornthip is the Thai forensic pathologist who had observed Teoh Beng Hock’s second post-mortem and testified at a royal inquiry that foul play was likely involved in the DAP aide’s mysterious death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s Selangor headquarters in 2009.

“On behalf of the family, we have urgently written to the prime minister, health minister and the director-general of the Health Ministry to issue the necessary authorisations for Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand(picture) to conduct the second post-mortem on Sugumaran’s remains,” said Sugumaran’s family lawyers N. Surendran and Latheefa Koya in a joint press statement.

“We have no objection to a government pathologist being allowed to observe the procedure. We call upon Prime Minister (Datuk Seri) Najib Razak and the other relevant authorities to respond immediately to this request, as the family are unable to carry out the last rites until the second post-mortem is concluded,” they added.

Najib ordered a forensic report last Thursday on Sugumaran after the latter’s death was raised at a Cabinet meeting.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai was directed to oversee the forensic report after MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, who is also a minister in the PM’s Department, had raised the security guard’s death during the Cabinet meeting.

Several witnesses who saw Sugumaran collapse on a street near his home in Batu 12, Hulu Langat on January 23 have accused the policemen who arrested him of beating up the man after he was handcuffed.

The police have denied the allegations.

Sugumaran’s death joins a list of other alleged police killings like the custodial deaths of Chang Chin Te earlier this year; A. Kugan and R. Gunasegaran in 2009; the deadly police shooting of 14-year-old schoolboy Aminulrasyid Amzah in 2010, and various other fatal police shootings in the past two years.

A United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 2010 visit to Malaysian prisons and detention centres reported in 2011 that between 2003 and 2007, “over 1,500 people died while being held by authorities.”

The Bar Council, civil society and several politicians from both sides of the divide have called for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to reform the police force since 2006. 

Managing sleep disorders

The Star

Naeem: We believe the centre will help relieve th e cost of healthcare in the economy.

PHILIPS Malaysia and University of Malaya Specialist Centre (UMSC) recently signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on setting up South-East Asia’s first centre for sleep disorders in Malaysia.

Housed in UMSC, the centre is scheduled to open its doors in July.

It will focus on driving awareness and early diagnosis of sleep disorders through clinical research, training, and a full spectrum of sleep medicine services.

With the aim of improving the state of health and well-being in the region, the Asean Sleep Research & Competence Centre (ASRCC) will constitute four sub-sections — Training Academy, Clinical Research Centre, Tele-medicine Centre, and Corporate Services Centre.

“We often forget to acknowledge the role of a good night’s sleep and its effects on our health.

“Research has shown that the quality and amount of sleep we have can affect our health, safety and productivity.

“The most common sleep disorder — obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) — is also closely linked to other diseases.

“For example, moderate-to-severe OSA patients have a three-fold increase in the risk of hypertension and a two-fold increase in the risk of heart failure.

“As such, sleep disorders are a clear concern across different fields of medicine. I believe the upcoming centre may help hospitals across the region to provide new levels of understanding in the diagnosis and management of sleep disorders,” said UMSC chief executive officer Prof Datuk Amin Jalaludin.

According to a recent Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research survey of 289 bus drivers, 44.3% were found to have sleep disorders.

Confiden t: Zainal foresees the centre will act as a catalyst to attract more like-minded centres.

Road accidents are one of the significant impacts of OSA.

Other sleep disorders, such as insomnia, parasomnia, and narcolepsy, also interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning, causing people to become less productive at work, irritable, depressed and sleepy behind the wheel.

TASRCC plans to open its doors for the screening and management of OSA, for public vehicle drivers and will work with the government to ensure such drivers undergo compulsory OSA screening.

“Philips is constantly seeking to find meaningful solutions and partnerships to improve health and well-being.

“The ASRCC is a great example of a partnership that will improve the lives of patients with sleep disorders.

“We believe this will also help relieve the cost of healthcare in the economy,” said Philips Malaysia managing director Naeem Shahab Khan.

“I am confident this centre will act as a catalyst to attract more like-minded centres and its contributions would be invaluable, offering Malaysians high value jobs and specialised training opportunities, in line with our Economic Transformation Prog–ramme,” said InvestKL chief execu­tive officer Zainal Amanshah.

SOCSO provides free health screening

Borneo Post

SANDAKAN: The Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) is offering a free health screening programme (HSP) for all workers aged 40 and above to identify non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer starting this month.

Eligible employees may undergo the health screening at SOCSO HSP panel clinics which have registered via SOCSO SeHAT portal.

According to an officer with SOCSO HSP Unit, Rosly Bin Abdul Kadir, employees will be given HSP vouchers through their employers, which will be submitted to HSP Panel Clinics.

The HSP will benefit around 1,972,690 employees aged 40 and above in the country, he added.

He said the SOCSO HSP was aimed at promoting a healthy culture and awareness of the non-communicable diseases through early detection.

“Besides that, the HSP will prevent disability and death as well as loss of income due to non-communicable diseases.

“It also hopes to improve human capital resource and productivity through a vibrant business environment and to stimulate the nation’s economy,” he said during HSP briefing to around 29 panel clinics here at Sabah Hotel recently.

The HSP will cover medical consultation as well as advice to workers to reduce the risk of diseases to enable them to remain productive and healthy.

The screening includes physical examination, consultation, blood examination, interpretation of medical findings, and clinical advice while the health parameters covered in HSP are Full Blood Count, Fasting Glucose, Fasting Lipid Profile, Urine FEME/Microalbuminura, Pap Smear and Mammogram.

The programme will be offered continuously to enable all future workers attaining 40 years old to benefit from it.

So far 229,236 HSP vouchers were distributed and 976 clinics were registered for HSP all over Malaysia from January 1 – 17 this year.

Where is the promised Penampang hospital?

Free Malaysia Today

PENAMPANG: The healthcare sector in Sabah is in a mess, the State Reform Party (STAR) said today.

Sabah STAR women’s wing chief, Melanie Annol, said besides the delayed twin-towers at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), the abysmal condition of healthcare in the state can be seen everywhere. Penampang, the satellite town of the state capital, is a living testimony.

She said a long time ago, the Barisan Nasional leadership had promised to build a district hospital for Penampang, which has been without hospital since Merdeka in 1963.

“But until now there is no sign of a hospital coming up.

“What happened to the promise made by Bernard Dompok, the Penampang MP and Upko president? Has it been thrown into the dustbin of BN’s unfulfilled promises?” Annol asked in a statement here.

A few days ago, Annol also brought up cases of insufficiencies in government hospitals that had caused tremendous stress to locals.

“I understand a site for the proposed Penampang district hospital was identified, but after some time, the whole thing just fizzled out, leaving about 126,000 people in Penampang without a proper hospital,” she pointed out.

She further said that it was a gross injustice to the people not only of Penampang but the whole Sabah, which was endowed with so much natural resources, but left begging for basic facilities.

“We need a hospital now. The old polyclinic in Kasigui near here is the only “hospital” that serves the people. Fortunately we do have private clinics around town, but how many families can afford private clinics?” Annol asked.

According to her, a hospital in Penampang would serve not only the people of Penampang itself but also nearby Putatan, Petagas, Lok Kawi and even the state capital.

Penampang, a predominantly Christian Kadazandusun area, though considered still a small town, has virtually become a satellite town of Sabah capital Kota Kinabalu.

Malaysian health minister says Malaysians are fattest in Southeast Asia

Bangkok Post

Malaysia is the fattest country in Southeast Asia, according to its Health Minister.

Liow Tiong Lai says that obesity is on the rise in Thailand’s southern neighbour, with 2.6 million Malaysian adults obese and 477,000 children considered overweight. 

“This is not a glorious title. We are outweighing our Asean neighbours and number six in the whole of Asia – behind some Middle Eastern countries,” Mr Liow told The Star.

Statistics from Malaysia’s National Health and Morbidity Survey show that 15.1% of Malaysians aged 18 and above were suffering from obesity as of 2011.

“This is an increase from the 14% figure of the same demographic in 2006,” Mr Liow said.

Mr Liow warned that modern technology could be contributing to a rise in non-communicable diseases among Malaysians, including diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular problems.

“This exciting era of electronic gadgets and instantaneous communication is actually a double-edged sword,” he said.

“We are increasingly becoming couch potatoes; we are not leading an active enough lifestyle to prevent ourselves from becoming obese, which is a precursor to many health problems.”

Sime Darby Healthcare consolidating its hospitals

The Edge

KUALA LUMPUR: SIME DARBY BHD subsidiary, Sime Darby Healthcare Sdn Bhd, has sold its day care facility in Petaling Jaya (Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah) to BP Healthcare group about a month after opening its RM143 million Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity near Kepong in Kuala Lumpur.
The sale price of Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah was not disclosed, but it is believed to be negligible to the group’s overall revenue. Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah, which will be renamed BP Specialist Centre Taman Megah, offers a variety of services and procedures, including gastroscopy, CT scan, mammogram, ENT (ear, nose and throat), family medicine, hearing and dental.
An industry executive said the disposal of the “small” Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah will enable Sime Darby Healthcare to concentrate on its three bigger hospitals — its flagship Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya, Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara and Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity. Sime Darby Healthcare also owns and operates a nursing college called Sime Darby Nursing and Health Sciences College.
The 393-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya has been the mainstay of Sime Darby Healthcare as the 220-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara was only officially opened in March last year. It was bought for RM140 million in 2010.
Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya contributed the bulk of Sime Darby Healthcare’s revenue in the last two financial years. For the financial year ended June 30, 2011 (FY11), total revenue was RM319 million and increased to RM348 million for FY12.
The 300-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity is leased from Perdana ParkCity group under a build and lease concept, with a 15-year leasehold agreement.
Sime Darby Healthcare managing director Raja Azlan Shah Raja Azwa was quoted as saying that both Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara and Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity are expected to post profits within three to five years.
Bernama reported that the purchase of Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah marked the first ever acquisition by BP Healthcare since it started as a medical laboratory in Ipoh, Perak, 30 years ago, before growing into a leading integrated healthcare group.
“This acquisition is a very significant move for the group in line with our vision of having a chain of BP hospitals eventually. It will be the latest expansion of our considerable healthcare facilities and drive towards our target of establishing 15 specialist centres over the next three years,” said BP Healthcare deputy chairman and group finance and investment director Chevy Beh.
BP Specialist Centre Taman Megah will be the fifth specialist centre within the group and will remain a day care centre. BP Healthcare treats four million patients a year and the number is growing, Beh said.
The group has four specialist centres with three in the Klang Valley — Glenmarie (Shah Alam), Cheras (Kuala Lumpur) and Bukit Tinggi (Klang). The fourth is in Ipoh, the headquarters of the group.
BP Healthcare is also Southeast Asia’s largest medical diagnostic chain with over 100 outlets in Malaysia and a joint venture in Indonesia with the Ciputra Group.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Jan 16, 2013.

Health Ministry Monitors Quality Of Water Distributed To Residents - Liow

SJ Echo

BANGI, Jan 14 (Bernama) - The Health Ministry is strictly monitoring the quality of water distributed to residents in areas facing water supply problem, especially in Selangor.


Its minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, said measures should also be taken by Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) to ensure that the water supply distributed to residents in the affected areas was clean and met the stipulated water quality.

"An epidemic can happen if there is water pollution. Hence, it is important to ensure the quality of the water to prevent the spread of an epidemic, like typhoid fever," he added.

He said a directive had also been issued to the state health director and the ministry's Disease Control Division to monitor the situation.

Liow told this to reporters after launching the "First 1,000 Days of Life" campaign towards building a healthy generation at the Bandar Seri Putra Health Clinic here Monday.

Call for watchdog on drug dispensing

Free Malaysia Today

Public interest must come first in any change in the healthcare system, say consumer groups.

PETALING JAYA: Any new law governing the dispensing of medicine must provide for the establishment of a monitoring body that protects public interest, a consumer group suggested today.

Referring to speculation that such a law is in the making, the Islamic Consumer Association of Malaysia (PPIM) cautioned against rushing the legislation without consulting all stakeholders.

Public interest should be the government’s foremost consideration, said PPIM spokesman Nazim Johan.

He said the monitoring body should be non-governmental and should regularly check on the prices of drugs “so that consumers are not cheated”.

“We need to make sure charges are regulated and there are clear guidelines issued by the authorities,” he added.

A source in the Health Ministry recently told FMT that the government had for years been contemplating taking away the right of private physicians to dispense drugs and giving it to pharmacists, as is the practice in developed countries.

Some civic groups fear that such a change would put patients at a disadvantage, particularly in the matter of pricing, but also because of the inconvenience of having to travel from clinic to pharmacy. Furthermore, doctors might feel compelled to raise consultation fees to make up for their loss of income from selling drugs.

However, supporters of the proposed change say doctors can easily abuse their current dispensing right by raising prices or giving unnecessary prescriptions.

Nazim also said the government should widely consult the public through consumer associations and other civic groups before tabling the proposed legislation.

The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) agreed. Its president, N Marimuthu, called for “adequate planning” for the drafting of the law and “proper education of the public” on its implications.

“The question of affordability is a key issue,” he said. “The government must ensure that consumers are not taxed further.”