OCTOBER , 2021 | THE HEALTH

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Shop safely for contact lenses The Malaysian Optical Council cautions public against purchasing inferior contact lenses from unauthorised channels

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Growth in sight The eyecare industry has been affected by the pandemic like most businesses but recovery seems imminent

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Gutsy young lady Malaysian pro wrestler Nor Diana shares her training routine , diet and what motivates her

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Boost vaccination rates in laggard states We need to ensure a high level of vaccination readiness

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businesses

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Doses of reality

The inequitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines illustrates the limits of a system where power plays a part

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Business unusual People are hoping the government will bring about changes in managing the Covid-19 situation amidst reopening of

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Using dynamic applications Adapting to the digital era is no longer an option in a competitive market

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Precision medicine and health It aids the doctor to seek a patients unique disease risks and treatments that will work

| The Health says ... |

He had done a fairly good job as cochairman of the Special Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Committee ( JKJAV ) in stepping up the Covid-19 vaccination drive in a matter of months to one of the highest vaccination rates in the world . He was Science , Technology and Innovation Minister at that time .

Today , more than 80 per cent of the adult population have received both doses of the vaccine and more than 90 per cent their first dose .

But the credit must also go to the Ministry of Health ( MoH ) staff led by its Director-General Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah who have toiled in containing the pandemic since March 2020 .

But what after the pandemic ? What lessons have we learnt from this bitter episode ?

Will our healthcare resources be expanded to cope with another such pandemic ? Will we have more public hospitals , polyclinics , clinics , doctors , and nurses ? How will we address the glaring imbalance in health infrastructure between States ?

Will we also step-up investments in technology and telemedicine and introduce the long overdue national health insurance scheme ?

Now is a good time as any to start addressing these issues . For a start , Khairy must ensure Budget 2022 includes a higher allocation for healthcare .

He has said the country needed another 28,000 medical specialists by 2030 . But if we can ’ t even offer a few thousand contract doctors permanent positions now , how are we going to recruit that many specialists ?

The just tabled 12th Malaysia Plan ( 2021- 2025 ) talks about redesigning the country ’ s healthcare service to ensure efficient and affordable healthcare delivery to the people .

It mentions that a blueprint for Malaysia Healthcare System Reform will be introduced as a new way forward for national healthcare system transformation . This will include public healthcare sector transformation , private healthcare sector regulatory reform and sustainable health financing .

Sounds good and ambitious on paper . But let ’ s hope all this is not mere political rhetoric .

And who can blame Malaysians for being skeptical ? After 11 such Malaysia Plans since independence , we are still struggling to cope .