THE HEALTH | JANUARY-FEBRUARY , 2022

CARING PHARMACY Retail Management Sdn Bhd , a 75 per cent-owned subsidiary of 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd ( SEM ), recently signed a jointventure agreement to establish a pharmaceutical business to distribute and administer pharmaceutical products in Indonesia .

The 28.98 billion rupiah ( RM8.55 million ) deal , according to the group , represents an opportunity for SEM to enter the Indonesian pharmaceutical industry .

The JV agreement with PT Era Prima Indonesia , according to the company , contains two proposals that are inter-conditional upon each other and are expected to be completed in the first half of 2022 .

The first proposal is a shareholders ’ agreement between Caring and Era Prima to facilitate the formation of PT Era Caring Indonesia , a distribution company . Caring will own 50.1 per cent of the distribution company .

The second proposal is for Era Prima and its 98.46 per cent-owned subsidiary , PT Era Farma Indonesia ( EFI ), to enter into a mandatory

ON DEC 2 , 2021 , DoctorOnCall , Malaysia ’ s first and largest digital health platform , announced a collaborative alliance with Qualitas Medical Group to extend Covid-19 vaccination to those who have yet to receive it , including foreign nationals and adolescents over the age of 12 .

The initiative aims to make online bookings for both doses of the Sinovac vaccine , administered at 77 Qualitas clinics across the country , quick , easy , and secure ( locations : KL , Selangor , Johor , Negeri Sembilan , Perak , Pahang and Penang ).

It also gives people who may have missed or yet to receive their MySejahtera vaccine appointment a wider window of opportunity .

This is also the first private vaccination programme with Sinovac vaccine boosters that is convertible bond subscription agreement for a proposed cash subscription of 23.95 billion rupiah ( RM7.07 million ) in unsecured mandatory convertible interestbearing bonds .

EFI will then operate in Indonesia as a retail company under the “ Wellings ” brand .

Caring and Era Prima will enter into two additional agreements after completing the bond subscription .

The first additional agreement will be a governance agreement between Caring , Era Prima , and EFI , which will go into effect to regulate Caring ’ s and

Era Prima ’ s relationship in terms of EFI management .

The second agreement will be a trademark licence agreement between Caring ’ s subsidiary Wellings Pharmacy Sdn Bhd as the licensor and EFI and Era Prima as licensees , allowing both Indonesian counterparties to use the “ Wellings ” trademark in their branding and business conduct for a nominal licence fee of 50 million rupiah ( RM15,000 ).

As of end November , 7-Eleven Malaysia ’ s market capitalisation was around RM1.85 billion .

powered by an online booking . Starting Dec 1 , 2021 , Qualitas started providing free Pfizer booster vaccination shots ( governmentsupplied doses ). They paid Sinovac booster vaccinations at RM99 per shot to be part of the solution in managing the spread of Covid-19 .

The programme follows the national vaccination policy and plan , and recipients ’ MySejahtera accounts are updated with their vaccine status after inoculation .

DoctorOnCall , in collaboration with the Construction Industry Development Board ( CIDB ), held vaccination drives for foreign and migrant workers at PPV centres earlier this year .

Managing Director and Co-Founder of DoctorOnCall Maran Virumandi said : “ DoctorOnCall has always been centrestage in supporting the effort in filling the gaps to ensure Malaysians and its residents are vaccinated against Covid-19 . This partnership is a private effort in ensuring that we are a fully vaccinated nation .

Chief Business Development Officer of Qualitas Medical Group Dr Junaidi Ismail said : “ Qualitas Medical Group is committed to doing our part in the national vaccination drive , which is why we are pricing the Sinovac vaccine booster shots to make them more accessible to the communities we serve .

“ We are subsidising all professional fees to break the RM100 barrier and assist the nation to realise a higher take-up of booster shots . Our clinics across Malaysia are offering the vaccines – both primary doses and boosters with the Sinovac or Pfizer vaccines – to anyone eligible .

THROUGH ITS upgraded laboratory , located in IMR ’ s laboratories in Setia Alam , Selangor , the Malaysia Automotive , Robotics and IOT Institute ( MARii ) and the Institute for Medical Research ( IMR ) have improved efficiency of sample preparation for the ImmuSAFE COVID + Biochip Test .

MARii CEO , Dato ’ Madani Sahari , briefed Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin , on the MARii ImmuSAFE Smart Automation Line ( SAL ) during his visit to the National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) on Nov 29 , 2021 .

Madani Sahari said : “ Many of the technologies and design approaches used to improve the ImmuSAFE process came from the principles utilised in the mobility sector , an important focus of MARii .

“ We are extremely happy that the same approaches have been utilised today in the bio-medical sector , and we hope more sectors can benefit from the numerous technologies developed through MARii and MITI , our parent ministry .”

The MARii SAL uses autonomous robots , intelligent monitoring systems , and MARii-developed big data analytics to improve the ImmuSAFE sample preparation process .

These systems improve the speed and accuracy of liquid handling during incubation , dilution , washing , and scanning of samples - all of which are critical components of the test that were previously hampered by bottlenecks . At the same time , the MARii SAL dashboard , which tracks the progress of each sample and provides a real-time snapshot of daily targets , machine outputs , planned vs actual progress , quality performance , and operational efficiency monitors all processes within the laboratory .

ImmuSAFE , developed by MARii , IMR , and Sengenics , is the world ’ s first labbased , multi-antigen and multi-domain Covid-19 serology test .

The ImmuSAFE test allows for quantitative analysis of the prevalence of protective antibodies against Covid-19 produced by the immune system in response to infection or vaccination .

ACCORDING TO Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali , over 1,700 government doctors have left in the last four years .

“ A total of 1,497 contract medical officers resigned between 2017 and June this year ,” he said in response to a question from Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad ( PH-Kuala Selangor ) in the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 29 .

According to the Ministry of Health ’ s ( MoH ’ s ) breakdown , 110 contract doctors resigned in 2017 , 168 in 2018 , 475 in 2019 and 511 in 2020 .

“ In 2021 , 514 contract medical officers resigned their posts from January to November ,” he added .

He noted that the doctors who resigned gave various reasons for their resignations , including to continue their service at private facilities , personal issues , furthering their studies , and health issues .

Dr Dzulkefly also inquired about the ministry ’ s plans to expand the National Specialist Registry to include more specialist disciplines . — The Health

MIND MATTERS Network , with the support of Malaysia Mental Health Association ( MMHA ), Make it Right Movement ( MIRM ), and the National Coalition for Mental Wellbeing ( NCMW ) initiated by Rotary Malaysia has launched a handbook on youth mental health in Malaysia .

The Handbook on Youth Mental Health , written by Prof Dr Philip George , Dr Sabrina Lizy Fernandez and a medical student , Sharrada Segeran provides an insightful view on youth mental health from three different perspectives . This is the first time in Malaysia a handbook on youth mental health is co-authored by youth themselves . The handbook aims to help youth , parents , counsellors and healthcare professionals better understand and manage their mental health post-pandemic to adapt to the new normal .

“ Youth mental health is an often-ignored area of health as