The Health | july, 2019
04
Current News
Briefs
Methanol poisoning
cases reported nationwide
in ten-day period
The Health Ministry says 19 cases of
methanol poisoning have been reported
to the National Crisis Preparedness and
Response Centre (CPRC) from 11 June to
21 June.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor
Hisham Abdullah said the three clusters of
methanol poisoning involved three states
Penang (eight cases), Johor (six) and Negeri
Sembilan (five).
“Laboratory test results for 13 cases
are still pending,” he said in a statement on
22 June. Dr Noor Hisham said methanol
poisoning was believed to be caused by
drinking counterfeit branded alcohol.
The methanol poisoning episode that
began in Penang on June 11 involved eight
Myanmar nationals being rushed to Penang
Hospital, with two of them dead.
Johor, which reported six cases of
methanol poisoning since 18 June, including
three foreign nationals, saw four of them
dead. “One case is still being treated at the
Sultanah Aminah Hospital and was in a critical
condition. Another was reported to have
blurred vision and is being treated at Sultan
Ismail Hospital, Johor Bahru,” he said.
Negeri Sembilan reported five methanol
poisoning cases on 20 June, including two
deaths in Port Dickson.
So far, an operation in Penang seized
alcoholic drinks and equipment used by a
premises to re-package alcoholic drinks
illegally, whereas in Johor several types of fake
alcoholic drinks were seized at three premises
that are believed to distribute the drinks.
He advised consumers to avoid taking
home-brewed alcohol or those sold at low
prices, and to ensure that each purchased
product has a label containing complete
information.
Updates on measles
outbreak among
the Orang Asli community
Three new cases with measles-like
symptoms in Kampung Kuala Noh, Gua
Musang was founded by the Kelantan State
Health Department, with two on 20 June and
one on 21 June. Two of the victims, a female
child aged 11 and an adult female aged 24
is now being treated in Kuala Krai Hospital.
The other victim, an 18 year-old female is in
the isolation ward of Gua Musang Hospital.
All three victims are in stable condition.
This makes the cumulative cases since 3
June to 21 June to be 116 cases of measles-
like symptoms in total.
Out of the total cases stated, 47 cases
were confirmed to be caused by measles.
On 21 June, a total of 48 cases are still being
treated, with 46 in a normal ward and two in
ICU of Kuala Krai Hospital. Until 21 June, no
new deaths were reported, maintaining the
total number of deaths caused by measles to
be at three cases.
Meanwhile, on 20 June, it was reported
that one suspected case of measles was
reported among the Orang Asli community
in Kg Gerdong, Hulu Terengganu. The new
report makes the total case to be at 13, with
eight confirmed as measles.
No new cases identified in Kampung Ulu
Sat, Jerantut, Pahang, which maked the total
cases as f 20 June to be at eight, with four
confirmed as measles. All cases from the
two villagers have contact history with the
Kuala Koh community. No viral infection of
measles reported in any other villagers as of
now. Monitoring is still being done by all State
Health Department. — The Health
Malaysia’s rise
to digital health
The need to implement technology and innovation in our
healthcare system is imminent.
D
i g i ta l H e a l t h
Malaysia (DHM)
have organised the
Telemedicine 4.0
Conference in Subang
recently as part of a
Digital Health Week initiative from
16 to 21 June, in collaboration with
the 6th International Conference on
Bio-Sensing Technology.
Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah,
Director-General of Health, Ministry
of Health Malaysia delivered an
opening address that touched on the
catalytical role that DHM plays in the
development of digital health in the
country.
Collaboration is key
The first three editions (2015, 2016,
and 2017) led to the important
formation of Digital Health Malay-
sia (DHM – previously known as
Telemedicine Development Group),
which seek to establish a triple helix
inclusive Digital Health ecosystem
in Malaysia. Telemedicine 4.0, which
runs from 20 to 21 June, will again
bring together key stakeholders
in policy makers, industry and
academia, as well as medical prac-
titioners and providers to discuss
and collaborate in supporting the
development, research and innova-
tion of digital health initiatives in
Malaysia.
“Digital transformation is
underway across all industries, and
healthcare is no exception. Clinical
medicine has been evolving rapidly,
while episodic care is now replaced
with continuous monitoring of
patients via remote monitoring
through patient input and robust
biosensors,” said Prof Dr Wong Chee
Piau, Chairman of Digital Health
Malaysia’s Organising Commit-
tee, Professor of Paediatrics, and
Consultant Paediatrician & Child
Neurologist.
Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah opening speech addresses the role of
Digital Health Malaysia as a catalyst in the development of digital health
in Malaysia.
Themed ‘4th Industrial Revolu-
tion in Healthcare’, the two-day
conference presented a vision of
the future of healthcare in Malaysia
in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
(4IR), with the aim of educating
stakeholders about the current trends
in technology and its implementation
in healthcare, as well as ultimately
creating a common digital health
platform that brings all stakeholders
together towards a shared vision of
digital health in the country.
“A comprehensive digital roadmap
is crucial and requires cooperation
from all parties, from the public to
the private sectors, from education-
ists to service providers, and from
payors to patients themselves,”
added Prof Dr Wong.
The country’s road
to digital health
Datuk Dr Noor Hisham commented
on the current path the country is
on for a digital transformation in
healthcare.
“The digital health landscape
in Malaysia has been around since
the late 90s, when the Ministry of
Health started to seriously look into
the technologies that can be used to
assist in healthcare management.
Although the journey has been slower
than we wanted it to be, due to budget
allocation and so on.”
“Recently however, the push
towards digital health has been
reinvigorated by the Ministry of
Health. We once more are looking
into improving our healthcare man-
agement system as a whole, as well as
utilising local experts on break-thru
medical devices,” Dr Noor Hisham
explained.
In of the plans that the Ministry of
Health is looking to implement in the
coming years, one is to develop a fully
digitised Electronic Medical Report
(EMR) system – and to integrate it
among all the hospitals and clinics
nationwide.
“In terms of the integration of
EMR plans, the infrastructure needs
to be built and improve upon first.
It would take around three to five
years to fully integrate our hospitals
and clinics to have the same system.
This way, your medical records can be
accessed and shared among health-
care providers with ease,” Dr Noor
Hisham said. — The Health
New cancer centre for Gleneagles
G
leneagles Medini Hos-
pital Johor launched its
state-of-the-art Cancer Centre
to provide comprehensive cancer
treatment services to cancer patients
across the region.
The Cancer Centre offers end-to-
end cancer treatment services and
support including radiotherapy,
chemotherapy, hormonal therapy,
immunotherapy and biological tar-
geted therapy, delivered by a highly
experienced and skilled multi-dis-
ciplinary team of medical specialist
consultants, nurses, counsellors and
other paramedical professionals.
Gleneagles Medini Hospital Johor
is equipped with the latest Elekta
Synergy Radiotherapy with C-RAD
system which offers 3-Dimensional
Conformal Radiation Therapy
(3DRT), Intensity Modulated Radio-
therapy (IMRT) and Volumetric Arc
Therapy (VMAT) or Rapid Arc. The
cutting-edge technology enables
more precise, accurate and quicker
treatment using a lower dose of
radiation so that patients can quickly
resume their normal routine while
enhancing overall quality of life.
The RM25 million Cancer Centre
is a welcome boost to the RM400
million already invested in the
hospital since it began operations in
2015. It will further strengthen the
hospital’s mission to be the leading
private hospital in Southern Region.
“Since we started operations in
late 2015, Gleneagles Medini Hos-
pital Johor has strived to become
the leading healthcare provider in
the Southern Region, providing
best-in-class patient experience and
clinical outcomes for our patients.
We are committed to raise the bar on
healthcare delivery, to meet the high
standards expected of our prestigious
Gleneagles brand” said Chief Execu-
tive Officer of Gleneagles Medini
Hospital Johor, Jean-Francois Naa.
During the launch, the Menteri
Besar of Johor, Dato Dr Sahruddin
Jamal, said that the advanced oncol-
ogy services offered by Gleneagles
Medini Hospital Johor would boost
the state’s economy.
Gleneagles Medini Hospital Johor
is currently operating with almost
150 beds and will add another 30
beds by end of 2019. To date, the
hospital has treated over 130,000
patients including 20,000 foreign
patients. – The Health