MARCH-APRIL , 2023 | THE HEALTH

| The Health says ... |

P16

Maintaining good physical and mental health should not be TAXing Tax policies could play an instrumental role in promoting a healthy lifestyle among Malaysians

P18-20

Brace for the worst Dengue infections have been increasing since 2022 due to their cyclical trend and is expected to peak this year

P21

Stress in the workplace It can have severe consequences for employees and employers if not addressed

P22

Coffee is a hug in a mug Can drinking six cups of coffee daily shrink your brain and increase dementia risk ?

P23

The forgotten enemy : Tetanus A tetanus infection can cause serious spasm of muscles which ultimately affect respiratory function and lead to potential death

P24

Know the chemicals in your brain Besides neurons and their connections , we have neurotransmitters and hormones playing a critical part in the functioning of the brain

P25

Making crucial and timely decisions Initiating best practices will improve the lives of ageing patients and help reduce the burden of osteoporosis

P26-27

HIV treatment – is Malaysia there yet ? Whilst HIV is an incurable infection , the spread of this illness can be stopped by intervening actions taken by the relevant stakeholders

P28

Addressing stunting in children The rate of stunting cases among children below age five in Malaysia has seen an increasing trend since 2010

P29

The myth about ketum There is disinformation on its benefits and abuse as besides health benefits , these plants can help farmers increase their income

P30

Overcrowding and health in prisons The push towards reducing overcrowding should not slow down during the endemic phase of Covid-19

P31 People

• Belvinder new MPOC CEO

• Kelvin Loh resigns from IHH Healthcare

• Getting into Stanford University

• Harjeet retires as Health Sec-Gen

• Kuching-born doctor invited by King Charles

The latest Auditor-General ’ s 2021 Report ( Series 2 ) exposes a slew of issues , but interestingly , hogging the news in the healthcare sector was a listed GLC , Pharmaniaga Berhad . It delivered defective ventilators to the Ministry of Health ( MoH ).

It ’ s alarming that defective equipment designed to save lives was delivered to the MoH during the pandemic in 2020 . Pharmaniaga was to supply 500 new ventilators worth RM50 million , and the MoH paid it RM30 million upfront .

However , it supplied only 136 ventilators costing RM20.1 million . Shockingly , 108 of the 136 ventilators were defective ! An additional RM3.97 million was then given to the company to upgrade some of the ventilators , which pushed the procurement cost to RM24.07 million .

It means that of the 500 ventilators ordered by the government , Pharmaniaga only fulfilled less than six per cent ( 28 ventilators ) of the order . Of the 108 defective ventilators , 15 were returned to the manufacturer for replacement , while 93 failed technical specifications tests .

Interestingly , the government could not claim the losses for the 93 defective ventilators , said to be RM13.07 million . Pharmaniaga later returned RM6.97 million of the RM30 million advance payment to the MoH .

Ventilators aside , the company was also saddled with 14 million doses of Sinovac vaccines worth RM552 million . It had to write them off in its latest accounts , resulting in a substantial net loss of over RM600 million for FY2022 .

This loss had a ripple effect on its listed parent Boustead Holdings Berhad which also incurred a significant quarterly loss . It prompted Boustead ’ s controlling shareholder ( Armed Forces Fund Board ) to offer to take the company private , meaning buying up the rest of the shares from minority shareholders .

It riled up Boustead ’ s minority shareholders , who were offered 85.5 sen for their shares when the company ’ s net tangible asset per share was worth RM1.64 . We do not know if the same fate will befall Pharmaniaga shareholders , whose shares plunged recently to below 25 sen from 77 sen a year ago .

The politicians and others behind these unsold vaccines and defective ventilators should be held responsible . Ultimately , taxpayers and shareholders of Pharmaniaga are paying for this mess .

Why should they when it ’ s not their fault ?