Fungus-hit hospital to be returned to Health Ministry

The Star: SUNGAI SIPUT: The fungus-infested Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Baru has finally been cleaned up and will be handed back to the Health Ministry next month.
Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the clean-up work of the hospital – which was ordered to be closed last September – was completed recently.
“Discussions are on-going now between the Health Ministry and the Public Works Department’s hospital construction division.
“These discussions will be completed soon and the hospital will be officially handed back to the Health Ministry on September 15,” he said here on Sunday.

RM25m to fight thalassaemia

NST: Malaysia has entered the “Thalassaemia belt”, which groups countries having a high percentage of sufferers of the disease.
And it has now embarked on an aggressive campaign to halt its spread.
The Government has allocated RM25.5 million to fight the disease.
Another RM19.9 million has been set aside as one-off assistance to help the poor buy equipment and obtain medication for the disease.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Ismail Merican said between 600,000 and one million Malaysians, mainly Malays and Chinese, were carriers. So, too, were many people in Sabah and Sarawak.
He advised those carrying the gene that causes beta- thalassaemia not to marry.
If they do, their children will develop thalassaemia major and they can die without proper treatment, which includes regular blood transfusions and drugs.
Many die because parents cannot afford to buy the expensive drug, Desferrioxamine, needed to remove the excess iron from the body after blood transfusions.
“With three to five per cent of our population being thalassaemia carriers, it is a problem that must be tackled effectively and quickly.”
Dr Ismail, who launched the thalassaemia control and prevention forum at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia yesterday, said every year between 120 and 350 babies were born with thalassaemia.
He said Malaysia should have taken proactive measures to stop the spread earlier, but being a multiracial country, there were sensitivities to be taken into account when exploring strategies.

Yellow Week To Raise Awareness On Breast Cancer

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (Bernama) — Yellow will be the colour for a week from Sept 12 in a campaign by the National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) to create awareness on breast cancer.
NCSM executive director Dr Saunthari Somasundaram said Sunday cancer was a curable disease and early detection helped to save lives and having cancer did not necessarily end with death.
To this end, NCSM was raising funds for its education and support services to establish a mobile cancer screening bus that could travel to areas of greatest need to provide free education and breast cancer screening, she said in a statement here.
A series of “CelebrateLife” events and activities would be carried out in the Klang Valley, including a dinner concert at a hotel on Sept 16, a three-day Cancer Expo at Suria KLCC and Bangsar Shopping Centre and CelebrateLife Inaugural Charity Golf Tournament on Sept 18.
She said that 6,000 Malaysian women aged between 35 and 50 were diagnosed with breast cancer every year but breast cancer screening and early detection would help cure the illness.
With screening and early diagnosis, over 90 per cent of women with breast cancer can be cured and lead a normal life and a simple self breast examination and mammography could save a woman’s life,” she said.

Works Ministry Seeks To Appoint Experts To Monitor Hospital Facilities

SUNGAI SIPUT, Aug 28 (Bernama) — The Works Ministry plans to appoint experts to manage and monitor facilities at hospitals in the country during the defect liability period so that any flaw can be rectified by the contractors immediately, Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said.
He said two to three experts would be appointed for a period of 12 to 15 months for each hospital, including those under construction.
They would be drawn from a group of 40 to 50 experts to be provided by a company specialising in the management of domestic services, he told reporters after officiating the close of a Merdeka motorcycle convoy in the Sungai Siput sub-district here.
Samy Vellu said the ministry would appoint the experts once the Finance Ministry approved its request for such.
The experts would monitor and manage the hospital facilities in accordance with the specifications set by the ministry and report on the facilities built by the contractors, he said.
He said the Temerloh Hospital in Pahang, Sultan Ismail Hospital in Pandan, Johor, Ampang Hospital in Selangor and three hospitals in Sabah and Sarawak would be among the hospitals where two to three of these experts would be stationed.

FIGO comes to town

The Sta: “The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) will be be holding its XVIII World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Kuala Lumpur in November 2006.
FIGO is a worldwide organisation that represents obstetricians and gynaecologists from nearly 120 national societies.
The triennial congress will be hosted by Malaysia in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from 5-10 November 2006.
“FIGO’s aims are to bring these societies together (during the congress) to discuss how to improve health of women worldwide,” says Lord Naren Patel, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and chair of the congress organising committee.
FIGO’s work embraces many aspects of obstetrics and gynaecology, such as oncology, STDs/AIDS, perinatal health, education, safe motherhood, medical terminology, women physicians in the specialty, social activities on women’s health, new technology, the pathology of the breast and ethics.
“At the congress, we will discuss and evolve strategies about women’s health issues in the developed and developing world,” says Patel.
Kuala Lumpur will also host the largest ever International Fellowship Programme in conjunction with the congress. This joint initiative of FIGO and the Obstetrical & Gynaecological Society of Malaysia (OGSM) will enable up to fifty young obstetricians and gynaecologists from developing countries to participate in a two-week programme at a Malaysian medical school and attend the congress. The programme is organised in consultation with, and the support of, the Malaysian Ministry of Health.
For more information, visit www.figo2006kl.com “

Duopharma top management to stay

theedgedaily.com: “Chemical Company Malaysia Bhd (CCM), which has made a mandatory general offer for Duopharma Biotech Bhd, has given an assurance that it did not expect any immediate changes in the latter’s top management upon the acquisition.
CCM group managing director Dr Mohd Hashim Tajudin said Duopharma’s listing status would also be maintained.
“We want to be leader in the businesses we are in — fertiliser, chemical and pharmaceutical. With the acquisition of Duopharma, we are in line in becoming a leader in pharmaceutical businesses,” he told reporters after the AGM in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 26.
Hashim said Duopharma expected to finalise a two-year contract with the Health Ministry to supply methadone, a drug used to treat drug addicts, in October.
CCM was also eyeing to acquire more pharmaceutical firms in Asean, he said. However, he did not elaborate.
On the new pharmaceutical plant in Bangi, he said it would start operations by year-end. He expected the pharmaceutical business, which had better growth prospects, to contribute 40% to its earnings in the next three to five years.”

Verify findings with Govt, researchers told

Malay Mail Online: “University research teams are advised to refer their findings to the relevant authorities for verification before making them public.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Salleh said by cross-checking their findings with the authorities, the results would be more accurate and there would be no reason to doubt the quality of the research.
“There are also universities which undertake research with grants from the Ministry. They should inform us of their findings so that we can cross-check with the relevant Ministries.
“I hope our researchers will give us the feedback so that their findings can be verified. Only then will we release the results,” he said after visiting Taylor’s College in Subang Jaya yesterday.
Shafie was commenting on Health Minister Datuk Chua Soi Lek’s criticism on the findings of Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) research on the ‘Tak Nak’ anti-smoking campaign.
Chua said the findings of the UPM study was “not correct” as it contradicted the findings of the National Health survey and those of cigarette companies.
While the Health Ministry’s study showed that the number of smokers had not been reduced since the five-year ‘Tak Nak’’ campaign was launched, the UPM study showed otherwise.
The UPM study, undertaken between 1996 and last year, revealed that 1.1 million smokers had quit.
A National Health Survey last year showed that 23.2 per cent of adults smoked.
Chua questioned the UPM findings as a check with cigarette companies showed that the number of smokers had actually gone up.”

Hospital canteen closed over poisoning

The Sarawak health authorities have issued an immediate directive to a food caterer to close down its operations at the Miri Hospital canteen after it was found to have sold unhygienic food that resulted in mass food poisoning.
Investigations revealed that the caterer had sourced the food elsewhere and then brought it to the hospital canteen for patients, hospital staff and the public.
Under the contract agreement, the caterer was supposed to cook the food in the hospital canteen instead of sourcing it from third parties.
The authorities are still investigating where the caterer sourced the food from.
Seventeen trainee nurses were down with food poisoning two days ago, leading state Health Department divisional medical officer for Miri Dr Faizul Mansor to issue the directive yesterday.
Miri Hospital director Dr Devi Uma confirmed that the directive had been received.
On Wednesday, the trainee nurses suffered stomach problems and vomited after consuming food from the canteen, which is managed by the caterer on a contract basis. They have since recovered.
Dr Uma stressed that the hospital premises, including the canteen and kitchen, was very clean.
Following investigations by health department inspectors yesterday, the directive to stop operations was signed and delivered to the manager of the catering company.
Miri Hospital is the biggest public hospital in northern Sarawak.
State deputy health director Dr Andrew Kiyu, when contacted in Kuching, said the headquarters had delegated the authority to divisional officers to issue shutdown directives whenever they see fit as part of efforts to clamp down on errant food providers.
Source

Breast Self-Examination Among M’sian Women Lacking, Says Shahrizat

SERDANG, Aug 26 (Bernama) — Sixty-five percent of Malaysian women aged 15 to 49 years have never done breast self-examination for the past three months, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil said Friday.
She a recent study done by her ministry had found that only 34 per cent of women had ever done a breast self-examination.
To make matter worse, breast cancer cases were only referred for medical attention when its was much too late, she said.
“Women not only need to practice regular breast self-examination but also should be equipped with the skills to detect and treat breast lumps at an early stage,” she said in her keynote address when launching Breast Cancer Educational Materials in Bahasa Malaysia, here.
Breast cancer, according to the minister had become an important issue nowadays and that more up-to-date information in Bahasa Malaysia was needed for women, especially in the rural areas to know how to examine their breasts for signs of the disease.
“Information allows women to make informed decisions on the need for treatment and to take control of their own affairs,” she added.
Experience in developed countries, she said had shown that information and educational intervention could improve the quality of life for women significantly.
The materials in Bahasa Malaysia is a collaborative work by University Putra Malaysia and Cornell University in the United States.
They are available at all hospitals and cancer centres nationwide.

Bank Negara issues new health insurance rules

Business Times: GUIDELINES on medical and health insurance (MHI) have been revised and the new rules will take effect from January 1 next year.
The revised guidelines are to promote a more equitable and consistent treatment of consumers covered under MHI policies.
Bank Negara Malaysia’s director of insurance regulation department Donald Joshua Jaganathan said insurers have until the end of the year to revise their existing practices to meet requirements of the revised guidelines.
“New MHI products introduced before January 1 2006 must also observe the requirements of the guidelines,” he told a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
He said the revised guidelines stipulate the minimum standards that must be observed by insurers in relation to the terms of issuance of MHI policies, the setting of premiums, limitations that can be imposed on core benefits provided under the policies, and disclosures to policyholders.
Among others, the new guidelines would reduce waiting periods before a policyholder is entitled to claim for benefits provided under the policy, he said.
The revised guidelines would also introduce a minimum 15-day “free-look” period for consumers to assess the suitability of new policies purchased.
Other benefits to consumers from the revised guidelines include limitations on policyholders’ contribution to medical claims under the co-payment terms for MHI policies, and complete disclosures on key policy features at the point of sale.
Asked on insurers response towards the revised guidelines, Jaganathan said he does not expect to see any “surprises”.
“A key point in the whole process is about balancing the mechanism between protection of consumer interests and looking at the welfare of the insurers,” he said.
He said the revised guidelines were due the culmination of the consultation between Bank Negara and the insurers for the past two years.