tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88061653146637076092024-03-18T02:47:40.027-07:00PharmLinkedyour partner in businessUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger445125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-6814004581187907572020-01-06T06:52:00.002-08:002020-01-06T06:52:36.025-08:00Dengue Statistics: 2019<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoAE4zNaFk3JkC6JeXRSus-JzPVsvjty4GhtKOMtjQImHsV-xvoajpi55q5dNE6tgzmt1N4JCP0fY6mUF4xgdolzug6a9H_cHqMEy3dmii6uqOEvgdYvERUacXR_RyxzquGPFinvbNEazq/s1600/unti1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="218" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoAE4zNaFk3JkC6JeXRSus-JzPVsvjty4GhtKOMtjQImHsV-xvoajpi55q5dNE6tgzmt1N4JCP0fY6mUF4xgdolzug6a9H_cHqMEy3dmii6uqOEvgdYvERUacXR_RyxzquGPFinvbNEazq/s400/unti1.png" width="400" /></a>In 2019, Malaysia recorded the highest number of dengue cases in four years with over 130,000, rising 61 per cent from 2018.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
A total of 2,694 dengue cases were recorded in the last week of 2019, rising 2.4 per cent from the previous week. This brings the total number of dengue cases in Malaysia for 2019 to 130,101 as of December 28, beating the previous historic high of 120,836 cases reported in 2015.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
According to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Crisis Preparedness Response Centre (CPRC), there were 80,615 cases for the same period in 2018. Last year’s cases, as of December 28, saw an increase of 61.4 per cent, or 49,486 cases, from the same period in 2018.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Meanwhile, six dengue-related deaths were reported from December 22 to December 28, bringing the total number of deaths to 182 for 2019. The figure was 147 during the same period last year. A total of 336 deaths were recorded in 2015.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Dengue-related deaths for all states and federal territories, excluding Perlis and Labuan, which recorded no deaths, averaged below 60.</div>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; max-width: 100%;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-8653" height="654" sizes="(max-width: 499px) 100vw, 499px" src="https://i0.wp.com/codeblue.galencentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Dengue-stats-compressed.jpg?w=660&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/codeblue.galencentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Dengue-stats-compressed.jpg?w=499&ssl=1 499w, https://i0.wp.com/codeblue.galencentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Dengue-stats-compressed.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/codeblue.galencentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Dengue-stats-compressed.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: 870px;" width="870" /><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555d66; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: center;">Graphic from the Ministry of Health’s Crisis Preparedness Response Centre (CPRC).</figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Selangor, still remains at the top of the list of states with cumulative dengue cases for 2019 up to December 28, recording a staggering 72,543 cases, and 56 dengue-related deaths. This is an increase of 60 per cent in dengue cases for the same period in 2018. Selangor recorded 45,349 cases and 41 deaths up to the 52nd week of 2018.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya remained in second place, recording 15,424 cases and 10 deaths from January to December 28, 2019, a 103.2 per cent increase in dengue cases from the same period in 2018, where the two federal territories recorded 7,591 cases and 11 deaths.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Johor, Kelantan, and Sabah remained in third, fourth, and fifth places, recording 10,873, 6,003, and 5,478 cases, respectively, during the same period.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The other states and the number of dengue cases recorded last year (as of December 28, 2019) are as follows: Penang (4,119), Perak (3,226), Pahang (2,873), Sarawak (2,648), Negri Sembilan (2,305), Melaka (2,156), Kedah (1,587), Terengganu (542), Perlis (288), and Labuan (36).</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Tudan Flat in Miri, Sarawak, recorded the highest number of cases according to district localities, with 59 cases last year as of December 28, followed by Taman Serkam Jaya in Jasin, Melaka (55 cases), and Block H-M at Pangsapuri Baiduri Bandar Tasik Kesuma in Hulu Langat, Selangor (48 cases).</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
CPRC also said that 55 chikungunya cases were reported from December 22 to 28 last year, bringing the total number of recorded cases for 2019 up to December 28, to 990.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
One positive case of zika was also reported during that same week, bringing the number of zika cases from January to December 28, 2019, to one. This came after the National Public Health Lab and Institute of Medical Research screened 2,792 blood samples and 51 urine samples of those suspected to have zika, as part of its zika surveillance.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/CodeBlue 03-01-2020</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-63026658173572934702020-01-06T06:30:00.000-08:002020-01-06T06:30:22.210-08:00Cervical Cancer<article about="/news/2016/01/121032/cervical-cancer-third-most-common-cancer-among-malaysian-women" class="node node-article clearfix" id="node-121032" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333;" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among Malaysian women.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Head of Cancer and Health Screening Clinics of the National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM), Dr Dalilah Kamaruddin, said that, previously, cervical cancer was named the second most common cancer in Malaysia, but this had changed over the years due to the increased awareness among women.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_q0NbEIwvK8f6C2KNhalIBB83Be24785VvNfQEcJ8y9537O0rEZNY-gk-Ofl1K6bqcKKp_uzvZEIf5oBSo9WFOgTrZ7KY05bOoFX6FsXxRDw6ScQvhjzedWvfnvKJdAdqj634XU0fb8E8/s1600/OIPUURAK0BN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="231" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_q0NbEIwvK8f6C2KNhalIBB83Be24785VvNfQEcJ8y9537O0rEZNY-gk-Ofl1K6bqcKKp_uzvZEIf5oBSo9WFOgTrZ7KY05bOoFX6FsXxRDw6ScQvhjzedWvfnvKJdAdqj634XU0fb8E8/s400/OIPUURAK0BN.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“I can positively say that the public awareness on cervical cancer is much better these days as people are more exposed and informed about this illness, thus making them come forward to have their health screenings done.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“However, despite the fact that more people are aware of cancer, there are still many people who refuse to get themselves checked as they are too shy to do so,” she said.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dr Dalilah said that based on the International Agency for Research on Cancer (GLOBOCAN) statistics, in every four minutes a woman would die of cervical cancer in the Asia Pacific region, which includes Malaysia.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">She said that this statistics crucially showed that cervical cancer could not be taken lightly by women, but instead should seen as an illness that needed early diagnosis and treatment.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Women from all ages and walks of life must clearly understand that if this cancer is detected earlier, then the chance of recovery is much better,” she said.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">She also added that in years to come, the number of women suffering from cervical cancer might drop as many women had become more health conscious, led a healthy lifestyle and were more open to talk about the deadly illness.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“I would also like to call on all the ladies out there to do their Pap Smears regularly, to have themselves vaccinated, to practice safe sex and to maintain their general health,” she added.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</article><div class="region region-inner-content-bottom" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333;">
<section class="block block-nst-googledfp clearfix" id="block-nst-googledfp-mobile-underlay-1x1" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 30px;"><div class="block-content" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<div data-google-query-id="CMuY8IWW7-YCFQymaAod29ME3Q" id="div-gpt-ad-1463538534546-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<div id="google_ads_iframe_/1009103/NST_1x1_0__container__" style="border: 0pt none; box-sizing: border-box; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><iframe data-google-container-id="4" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="1" id="google_ads_iframe_/1009103/NST_1x1_0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/1009103/NST_1x1_0" scrolling="no" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: bottom;" title="3rd party ad content" width="1"></iframe>/NST 07-01-2016</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-90922036054764660712020-01-06T06:21:00.002-08:002020-01-06T06:35:39.701-08:00Colorectal Cancer: National Cancer Registry 2007-11<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is the most common of cancer types among men and the second most common among women in Malaysia at a prevalence of 13.2 per cent, as reported in the Malaysian National Cancer Registry Report (2007 – 2011).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtJ6IebLDYwAr7HM3YShOYK4HPq-4IlHH1hSKiBQ7ehswS6UtSE6OMtTqBhalZ6xtFco63KoAa3G_VRwMQ2-qYLqs3Oh5xrspGdd_2BQ_mjNdoj4Bn7yZyvQtHCtr5C131504ZwYLgJcG/s1600/untiC.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="285" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtJ6IebLDYwAr7HM3YShOYK4HPq-4IlHH1hSKiBQ7ehswS6UtSE6OMtTqBhalZ6xtFco63KoAa3G_VRwMQ2-qYLqs3Oh5xrspGdd_2BQ_mjNdoj4Bn7yZyvQtHCtr5C131504ZwYLgJcG/s400/untiC.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Statistics showed that the incidence of the disease is highest among the Chinese, followed by Malays and Indians. The figures also revealed that the mortality rate for males was 1.42 times higher as compared to females.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The most common symptoms of the disease are altered bowel habit (41.7 per cent) followed by blood in stool (35.5 per cent), abdominal pain, (31.5 per cent), weight loss (31.0 per cent), anaemia (9.8 per cent) and intestinal obstruction (9.3 per cent).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">These alarming figures were revealed by Health Director General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah at the launch of the Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG), which is the first of its kind handbook on the management of colorectal carcinoma at Hospital Selayang.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Unfortunately, a majority of patients are at stage three and four (54.36 per cent), while only 8.4 per cent are diagnosed at stage one when they seek medical assistance".</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He said some of the main causes in the rise of the disease was due to the unhealthy Malaysian lifestyle, in particular, the consumption of too much red meat and processed food, as well as the low intake of fibre.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Genetics, consuming alcohol, smoking and lack of exercise are also contributing risk factors,” Dr Noor warned.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He pointed out that with the ever increasing number of new cases detected every year, the economic burden of CRC management is escalating especially if the patients are at the advanced stage.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Hence, the introduction of screening programmes should be undertaken for early detection of the cancer which can ultimately reduce the economic burden of CRC, to the individual, family and country.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Today, the estimated societal cost of CRC management in government hospitals in Malaysia using conventional chemotherapy ranges between RM13,622 and RM27,163 based on different stages, with an average of RM21,377 per patient. Early detection will not only save lives but also ease financial burden.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Among those present at the launch were colorectal specialist and chairman of the CPG steering committee Dr Nil Amri Mohamed Kamil and Hospital Selayang director Dr Sakinah Alwi.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/NST 27-06-2018</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-91610056900420942132020-01-06T06:12:00.001-08:002020-01-06T06:38:27.474-08:00Cancer on the Rise: National Cancer Registry 2012-16<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JkZIJMcBXdW5g-qMvkFyVxDgfN57i900ZVVE8hDDv_elK66Cm1g6YPgy4FnxGLEwO_6TAMwInYIE3YoUhJ1gCqdwQqwzGyZkExw5BoNp72zXnrwPkL0gV3J2_tFwgverUrSYB96r2K17/s1600/unt.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="300" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JkZIJMcBXdW5g-qMvkFyVxDgfN57i900ZVVE8hDDv_elK66Cm1g6YPgy4FnxGLEwO_6TAMwInYIE3YoUhJ1gCqdwQqwzGyZkExw5BoNp72zXnrwPkL0gV3J2_tFwgverUrSYB96r2K17/s400/unt.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cancer cases in Malaysia have been increasing for the past 10 years, and it remains the second highest cause of death, based on the Malaysia National Cancer Registry Report (MNCRR) 2012-2016.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Health Director General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said cancer cases in the country had increased to 115,238 from 2012 to 2016, compared to 103,507 from 2007 to 2011.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“In 2018, cancer took 9.6 million lives worldwide, with 16,000 lives in Malaysia alone.”</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He said 86 out of every 100,000 males and 102 out of every 100,000 females had cancer.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For the period 2012-2016, 10 types of cancer were detected among Malaysians. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">They were breast, colorectal, lung, lymphoma, nasopharynx, leukemia, prostate, liver, cervical and ovarian cancers.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcsmIjdg5kRBGyxo-slfiekk8Yfe8ZCiEzOYrCqVeCa0JyIbqR97pWB7cyonjipWyTw1jOSa8jl2mKY8J7s16r3uiK3Cu-QsEQRrNfzwAZme_473ikc-1ZRQPJVlR3FzfyX7muDBJeI6O/s1600/screenshot-2020-01-03-at-10.33.30-am.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="628" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcsmIjdg5kRBGyxo-slfiekk8Yfe8ZCiEzOYrCqVeCa0JyIbqR97pWB7cyonjipWyTw1jOSa8jl2mKY8J7s16r3uiK3Cu-QsEQRrNfzwAZme_473ikc-1ZRQPJVlR3FzfyX7muDBJeI6O/s400/screenshot-2020-01-03-at-10.33.30-am.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was discovered that men were mostly affected by lung and prostate cancer, while women are most affected by breast, colorectal and cervical cancer.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile, the types of cancer usually detected among children aged 0 to 14 were leukemia and spinal cord cancer, while youngsters between the age of 15 and 24 were prone to lymphoma.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The rate of cervical cancer, however, is seeing a downward trend from eight to six cases for every 100,000 females in the country, and this is probably due to awareness campaigns involving early detection such as pap smear, according to the report.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Nevertheless, there is a significant increase in breast and colorectal cancers.”</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dr Noor Hisham said analysis based on ethnicity found that the Chinese were more prone to cancer than the Malays and Indians.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For every 100,000 Chinese population, it was found that 106 men and 117 women had cancer.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, if compared (this report) to the previous one, there is a downward trend in regard to cancer cases related to the Chinese and Indians, while it is increasing among the Malays.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Late cases where there was only detection at the third and fourth stages is also increasing from 58.7 per cent from 2007 to 2011, to 63.7 per cent from 2012 to 2016,” he said.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/NST 03-01-2020</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-26979408578604718632020-01-02T07:33:00.000-08:002020-01-02T07:33:39.805-08:00IHH to acquire Prince Court Medical Centre by Q1,2020<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
IHH Healthcare Bhd is expected to complete the acquisition of Prince Court Medical Centre in the first quarter 2020 on near unanimous shareholder support.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The government-linked health care provider announced that an extraordinary general meeting today, more than 99.99 per cent of non-interested IHH shareholders and proxies voted in favour of the conditional share purchase agreement between IHH’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Pantai Holdings Sdn Bhd, and Pulau Memutik Ventures Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, for the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Prince Court Medical Centre, for RM1.02 billion cash.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCqS89fvhrM2dKSxssw-SUXX2bCvW58Lcq5svFXHzyUyUBPD07GprY9EbTQsIODqFccDHHnwpXjb3U5s268zPit7P04Rlb4YNXgJIoqehEap3pH6y_iD1DuvN622SbZtS1KRsrp9WlaB8/s1600/OIP4HP0LPPR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="238" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCqS89fvhrM2dKSxssw-SUXX2bCvW58Lcq5svFXHzyUyUBPD07GprY9EbTQsIODqFccDHHnwpXjb3U5s268zPit7P04Rlb4YNXgJIoqehEap3pH6y_iD1DuvN622SbZtS1KRsrp9WlaB8/s400/OIP4HP0LPPR.jpg" width="400" /></a>“This moves the Group closer to strengthening its market position in Malaysia and allowing it to better serve patient needs in the country,” IHH said in a statement.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Once the transaction is completed, Prince Court Medical Centre will become IHH’s 16th hospital in Malaysia. IHH currently runs Pantai and Gleneagles Hospitals in Malaysia.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Strategically located in the “Golden Triangle” area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Prince Court Medical Centre is a 277-bed private hospital offering a wide range of services including, among others, burns management, cancer, gastrointestinal diseases, interventional cardiology, in vitro fertilisation, nephrology, occupational health, orthopaedic and rehabilitation medicine.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“Adding Prince Court Medical Centre will empower us to bring our best-in-class care and outcomes to even more patients in Malaysia and abroad. With a broader network and stronger cluster of specialised tertiary hospitals in the Klang Valley, supported by a deeper clinical talent pool, IHH can offer a wider array of services and take on more complex cases.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“This will make our facilities even more compelling for both local and foreign patients, and further reinforces Malaysia’s attractiveness as a medical travel destination,” said Joe Sim, CEO of Malaysia Operations Division at IHH.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Prince Court Medical Centre medical director Dr Kuljit Singh said: “As part of the IHH Group, Prince Court Medical Centre can leverage on its scale and track record to unlock greater synergies and enhance our suite of service offerings and delivery of value-based care.”</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/CodeBlue 09-12-2019</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-13008921545977067402020-01-02T07:20:00.000-08:002020-01-02T07:20:19.772-08:00Fee Deregulation, Doctors still oppose Dispensing Separation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tx6oFPSVBGKOos2hX94lpCJOxVLJpLVCF0lThnMz7FsH6HsjXyYbT1_hakBwcwHR5ecASebqT6K0iqvP3wQ9EB0v6jFrCIKSHmShbMknFWP1lmzNl4UJMFmjPn5yu1vUWdgQfkpJ-PWh/s1600/OIP5ZDLHH0I.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="300" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tx6oFPSVBGKOos2hX94lpCJOxVLJpLVCF0lThnMz7FsH6HsjXyYbT1_hakBwcwHR5ecASebqT6K0iqvP3wQ9EB0v6jFrCIKSHmShbMknFWP1lmzNl4UJMFmjPn5yu1vUWdgQfkpJ-PWh/s400/OIP5ZDLHH0I.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) still does not support separating the prescribing and dispensing of medicines to doctors and pharmacists respectively, despite the deregulation of physicians’ professional charges.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The country’s largest association of doctors said various health stakeholders had agreed back in 2015 that dispensing separation could only come about in a national health financing system, or a single-payer system.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
A single-payer system means health spending is primarily made by the government, rather than the current multi-payer system that sees health care payments made by the Health Ministry, the Education Ministry, other federal agencies, private insurance, corporations, and people’s own out-of-pocket payments, among others.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“It’s not only the consultation fees. We’re talking about government structure, how they’re going to do that. What about the restriction? What is the audit trail? Will there be a duplication? Will there be fraud in the prescription? Who’s going to audit that? So there are lots of factors involved.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“So MMA will only support only when we have a single-payer system, which was agreed upon by all parties,” MMA Honorary General Secretary Dr R. Arasu<a aria-label=" told radio station BFM today. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.bfm.my/podcast/morning-run/morning-brief/with-deregulation-will-medical-care-costs-go-up" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(75, 230, 149) 0px -2px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"> told radio station <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">BFM </em>today.</a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The physician also said there must first be an electronic medical record (EMR) system that integrates patients’ medical histories between public and private health facilities, pharmacies, and general practitioner (GP) clinics.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“We must make sure the building blocks are in place,” said Dr Arasu. “Until then, dispensing separation is not feasible.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The Health Ministry recently tried to criminalise non-compliance of mandatory prescriptions upon request, but was forced to postpone subsequent readings of the Poisons (Amendment) Bill 2019 in Parliament to 2020 after physicians’ and dentists’ groups expressed outrage against proposals of incarceration and fines for rejecting patients’ prescription requests.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The Health Ministry made a <a aria-label="surprise announcement recently (opens in a new tab)" href="https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2019/12/06/government-repealing-regulations-controlling-doctors-dentists-consultation-fees/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(75, 230, 149) 0px -2px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">surprise announcement recently</a> that GPs, dentists and specialists in private clinics and hospitals would be free to set their own consultation fees, 13 years after the professional rates of private medical practitioners were first regulated by legislation.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Clinic GPs had long been demanding that their consultation charges of RM10 to RM35, a rate set since 1992, be increased to their hospital-based counterpart rates of RM30 to RM125.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Dr Arasu assured Malaysians today that the total encounter fee in private clinics would either remain the same or only see a “marginal increase”, despite the deregulation of family doctors’ professional charges.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“So what we foresee is that the medicine price will be reduced and the doctors will start charging appropriate consultation fees for the services they actually provide for the patients.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Dr Arasu also pointed out that the deregulation of family physicians’ consultation fees would encourage GPs to provide other health services, like preventive counseling.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/CodeBlue 12-12-2019</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span></span></div>
Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-48780526154943497932020-01-02T06:57:00.000-08:002020-01-02T07:21:39.271-08:00Proposed Health Activities for 2020<span style="font-family: inherit;">Malaysia is expected to see a revamped Health Financing System (HFS) if the Cabinet approves the healthcare reform proposal by the Health Ministry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said he planned to bring the Sihat Bersama (Health Together) 2030 proposal to the Cabinet before the end of January 2020.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A sustainable (1) HFS (2) public sector transformation through corporatisation in order</span> to become more empowered, agile and responsive <span style="font-family: inherit;">and (3) private sector regulatory reform. These are the three pillars outlined in Sihat Bersama 2030 to transform the healthcare system.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUW4Y-wUruzyjyn9aFR3BxN9aqbuwbvx6yW3ggXpcWcU0quA0qSSj_FSgbhkxrvFTy1ZAIr-NVx_v1QdX8PCL7-0yUNctxRJYm101oXYvQ0WF5Bq1OUEmoH1iyfJl-nUQzRhUeQI4Dla_m/s1600/untitl.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUW4Y-wUruzyjyn9aFR3BxN9aqbuwbvx6yW3ggXpcWcU0quA0qSSj_FSgbhkxrvFTy1ZAIr-NVx_v1QdX8PCL7-0yUNctxRJYm101oXYvQ0WF5Bq1OUEmoH1iyfJl-nUQzRhUeQI4Dla_m/s400/untitl.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Unless you have the HFS in place, there’s no point in bringing reform in the government and private sector, ” Dzulkefly said. He said Sihat Bersama 2030, which is the health sector’s version of the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, would enhance existing healthcare services and address issues such as the lack of funds, long waiting period, lack of medical staff, the burden of non-communicable diseases and an ageing population. It will be a comprehensive plan that will address the health systems and healthcare delivery issues in the country.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He said the purpose of the HFS was twofold – (1) to increase pooled and prepaid health financing in a sustainable, diversified manner that is equitable and affordable for households and employers and (2) to establish a well-governed health financing institution.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once approved by the Cabinet, a task force would be set up to look into implementation studies and communication strategies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In Sihat Bersama 2030, the electronic medical record (EMR) system that stores the records of patients in public health facilities nationwide would be introduced nationwide to cut down waiting times and enhance patient care and population health.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">EMR would be made accessible to private medical centres too, and could be used for research and decision-making on public health issues, and that the ministry would request proposals from the private sector to undertake the project this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile, the price control mechanism and pool procurement of medicine would be rolled out by mid-year, he said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">On other measures, Dzulkefly said housemanship training would be reduced from 24 months to 18 months, and there would be five postings for training instead of six.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He also hoped to address service delivery issues such as reducing the waiting time and congestion in public health facilities by setting up 20 clinics, having more clinics with extended hours and expanding the use of e-registration and e-wallet payments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The government will also increase the number of virtual clinics from the current five, while selected follow-up cases could use the virtual clinics manned by the same doctors. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the concern over polio, the ministry has discussed with its Filipino counterpart about addressing the issue of stateless children in Sabah and the Philippines has agreed to fund polio vaccination of the children, with Unicef providing the cheaper vaccine that will be administered by NGOs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The ministry has put in place a real-time surveillance dashboard to monitor disease outbreaks, hotspots, as well as facilities and doctors available.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When needed, district health officers would go to the ground to immunise the population at the hotspots.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As mentioned in the Budget 2020 announcement, pneumococcal vaccination will be rolled out this year, though no specific date has been set.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile, the government will also expand the Skim Peduli Kesihatan (Peka B40) coverage to include individuals aged 40 and above from the low-income (B40) group.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Peka B40 provides health screenings and early intervention for non-communicable diseases such as cancer and mental health problems, and currently covers those aged 50 to 60.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A National Strategic Action Plan on Mental Health (2020-2025) will also be launched this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/theSTAR 02-01-2020</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-76245057335108726702020-01-02T06:36:00.000-08:002020-01-02T06:36:33.779-08:00Malaysia 2020: Expected GDP growth at 4.8%<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;">The government remains steadfast in the belief that Malaysia will achieve an economic growth of 4.8% in 2020 as it expects to see positive effects from its development spending latest by June 2020, according to Finance Minister, YB Lim Guan Eng.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGDTGQzgDecmugy5EEwJ_X28hhNB5k6vLEQDtPL-OeKK0AI6S_1ofCe4Z5UBDy8Wn9ljWLdUOWMYvmUoZWUK83NkA2vGAG3amQNcXYjB0IqNoLfdHsan9qeR03ZPlMbVWOIJiBwMl0K2Qg/s1600/OIP65NO2DGR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="172" data-original-width="231" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGDTGQzgDecmugy5EEwJ_X28hhNB5k6vLEQDtPL-OeKK0AI6S_1ofCe4Z5UBDy8Wn9ljWLdUOWMYvmUoZWUK83NkA2vGAG3amQNcXYjB0IqNoLfdHsan9qeR03ZPlMbVWOIJiBwMl0K2Qg/s400/OIP65NO2DGR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;">“We are confident about maintaining the projection, supported by a rebound in the commodity prices, growth in investment spurred especially by government spending, as well as expectations of a positive outcome to the US-China trade war, ” he told Bernama.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;">He was commenting on the downward revisions of the 2020 growth projections by economists. Last month, the World Bank Group trimmed its forecast of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year to 4.5% from 4.6% previously on weakening investment and trade activity recorded in the third quarter of last year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;">“There was no problem in terms of development expenditure for ongoing projects, but new projects would have to be brought forward to 2020 and added to Budget 2020 (for new developments), ” he pointed out. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;">On the US-China trade war, Lim said the end of the dispute would be a booster or catalyst to spur the economy.</span><span style="color: #4a4a4a;">“As an exporting economy, Malaysia will benefit. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #4a4a4a; font-size: xx-small;"> /theSTAR 01-01-2020</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-69067365867435597842019-12-06T06:57:00.000-08:002019-12-06T06:57:17.613-08:00Dengue cases Unabated<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOr7Nl9A5nU9zS5SXNtIG52ujTzkgKdkESYgUSxKNj6dTllMYl5jEqAA2P6e14nlGa7c6TRgpVMCneUhnLCRjUyCr0dcZOVSJKSIlcxXbO5wTINuYmk_jXGAgH7DUF9qACUH8d9QMcapsV/s1600/thS09QMLLC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="159" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOr7Nl9A5nU9zS5SXNtIG52ujTzkgKdkESYgUSxKNj6dTllMYl5jEqAA2P6e14nlGa7c6TRgpVMCneUhnLCRjUyCr0dcZOVSJKSIlcxXbO5wTINuYmk_jXGAgH7DUF9qACUH8d9QMcapsV/s400/thS09QMLLC.jpg" width="378" /></a><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The total number of dengue cases this year has reached an all-time high with 120,871 cases recorded as of Wednesday, December 2019 </span></span><span style="color: #222222;">This averages out to about 331 new cases reported every day.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The previous high was recorded in 2015, with 120,836 cases.</span></span></div>
<div class="sasStoryRectPos" style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In August, Deputy Health Minister Lee Boon Chye cautioned that the number could hit 150,000 by year-end.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">The latest numbers were published on the iDengue website, which is run by the Health Ministry in collaboration with the National Space Agency.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The website, which is updated daily, noted that there have been 164 dengue-related deaths up to Nov 30, 2019 which had surpassed the 147 fatalities recorded in the whole of last year.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, this is an improvement compared to the 336 deaths recorded in 2015.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The iDengue website provides information on hot spots, preventive measures and contact numbers of operation rooms in every state.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/theSTAR 05-12-2019</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-68967656855071138812019-12-06T06:41:00.000-08:002020-01-02T07:21:02.401-08:00Private doctors and dentists' consultation fees deregulated<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Doctors and dentists in private clinics and hospitals can soon </span>determine their own consultation fees,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> following a decision by the Cabinet to deregulate the fee structures and let free market reign.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKmF-U2Wz5sXiDjD4MwYNwO-PKXcfAF_L_iUfqgLsO56Jtxo_xDbcpsljEKrmfc5KI1lw79f4qI0zEUpmm0zcpzpUQ019o8Ib7vd6vwNpcFCFqRZzK5uD5_BDqpOkw90qBm_Ic6A_t3bZ/s1600/th7N5OY9PK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="278" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKmF-U2Wz5sXiDjD4MwYNwO-PKXcfAF_L_iUfqgLsO56Jtxo_xDbcpsljEKrmfc5KI1lw79f4qI0zEUpmm0zcpzpUQ019o8Ib7vd6vwNpcFCFqRZzK5uD5_BDqpOkw90qBm_Ic6A_t3bZ/s400/th7N5OY9PK.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h1 style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The consultation fees must be displayed clearly so that patients are aware of the fees before getting treatment.</span></span><span style="color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;">The latest decision will strengthen the consumers' power to choose their doctors.</span></span></span></h1>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If patients are not happy with the charges or services received in any of the private facilities, they can lodge a complaint with the Private Medical Practice Control Section at ckaps.aduan@moh.my for further investigation.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="sasStoryRectPos" style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, who announced this, said the Cabinet had assessed the matter holistically and comprehensively as well as taken into consideration the recommendations from the National Cost of Living Council.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Cabinet is also concerned about the need to amend the Seventh Schedule of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services (Private Medical Clinics and Private Dental Clinics) Regulations 2006, which has not been amended since it was enforced in 2006, he said. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"As such, the Cabinet has agreed to abolish the control over consultation fees under Act 586.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The abolition of the fee control will include all registered facilities (in the Seventh Schedule) and licensed facilities (13th Schedule), said Dzulkefly.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The fees for GPs and dentists, as stated in the Seventh Schedule, have</span><span style="font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">not changed in 27 years and doctors have been calling for the fee harmonisation as provided for in the 13th Schedule of the regulations when it was revised in 2013.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2013, the consultation fee was gazetted for medical officers working in private hospitals under the 13th Schedule,except for GPs and dentists working in private clinics under the Seventh Schedule.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The current fees of RM10 to RM35 for GPs and dentists practising in clinics have not been revised since 1992 while medical officers at private hospitals who have the same qualifications have been charging between RM30 and RM125 per consultation.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.533em; margin-bottom: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/theSTAR 06-12-2019</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-36545760334056047902019-12-06T06:17:00.000-08:002019-12-06T06:17:22.582-08:002020 Rare Diseases is RM 16.5 mio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh8ypaKMYY20owNxooofaarMA8qWb-jH7dChuwVZUte2j2VYhohbLjVmh3IBhKiIWYWbzXL7OB82RojRyqpQzLtmQCdFPyCtGcuSajU0WLDjQzOAVjh0MhGT8SHNrfv3MyW1cjAL3NAGD7/s1600/thR0X8W0C5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh8ypaKMYY20owNxooofaarMA8qWb-jH7dChuwVZUte2j2VYhohbLjVmh3IBhKiIWYWbzXL7OB82RojRyqpQzLtmQCdFPyCtGcuSajU0WLDjQzOAVjh0MhGT8SHNrfv3MyW1cjAL3NAGD7/s400/thR0X8W0C5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The Ministry of Health clarified that the 2020 budget for rare diseases had actually increased by RM500K to RM16.5 mio.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The total budget includes a budget allocation of RM10 mio for 2020, as well as a current provision under Radiotherapy and Oncology activities of RM6.5 mio.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The government has also developed a National Framework for Rare Disease.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
To this end, the Ministry of Health had developed the National Framework for Rare Disease to establish a governance committee to integrate the management of rare disease patients in Malaysia, in a comprehensive and holistic manner that includes advocacy for public health education, screening and patient diagnosis as well as strengthening prenatal diagnosis and newborn screening, clinical management, referral systems, data collection and rare disease-related research.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/CodeBlue 06-12-2019</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-4544322273842519612019-11-19T23:22:00.001-08:002019-11-19T23:22:52.517-08:00Malaysia ranks 12th in World Bank’s Ease of doing Business<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeW6a6PcBdp1__ZDuVoELAnOgsJsWTG6nyX7O_XM4ikks85BfMscMiob-R0-vB3prKef242MlOGngtg90W_fNwp6H3mrcEnubPb1lgDv4Unv2_Oxl3kKqrcYphSdKFAoDqBvSwPnfbOA-D/s1600/th410HGIK1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="300" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeW6a6PcBdp1__ZDuVoELAnOgsJsWTG6nyX7O_XM4ikks85BfMscMiob-R0-vB3prKef242MlOGngtg90W_fNwp6H3mrcEnubPb1lgDv4Unv2_Oxl3kKqrcYphSdKFAoDqBvSwPnfbOA-D/s400/th410HGIK1.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">The "World Bank Doing Business 2020 Report" has ranked Malaysia in 12th position among 190 economies worldwide, an improvement from the 15th spot the previous year, says the International Trade and Industry Ministry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Minister Datuk Darell Leiking said the improved ranking was due to the public and private sector members’ collaboration and commitment within the technical working groups under the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah) to improve the ease-of-doing-business environment.</span></div>
<div id="misc-ads" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; margin: 10px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC)" as the Secretariat of Pemudah works closely with the respective technical working groups to initiate and monitor the implementation of the various improvement initiatives,” he said.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Darell said Pemudah consistently launches improvement initiatives that impact positively on the ease of doing business by promoting regulatory efficiency, productivity and good governance.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He said Malaysia’s improved performance in the Doing Business 2020 Report attests that the on-going reform initiatives are on the right track to further enhance competitiveness, productivity and governance in the ease of doing business as well as to promote investments, which will accelerate national economic development and prosperity.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Doing Business Report surveys regulations governing business activities in the economies which are then ranked according to their ease of doing business scores based on quantitative indicators of the regulations.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The report measures the processes for business incorporation, getting a building permit, obtaining an electricity connection, transferring property, accessing credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, engaging in international trade, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/MM 24-10-2019</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span></span></div>
<div class="ml-lg-0 ml-sm-2 mb-3" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem !important; margin-left: 0px !important;">
<div class="ads-container" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<div class="my-3 ads text-center " data-google-query-id="CP2Rgtmc-OUCFUZFKwodw0YD_w" id="mm-story-mreg-2" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; text-align: center !important; width: 300px;">
<div data-google-query-id="CLKq8oGd-OUCFYeOaAod5pgIUw" id="andbeyond3001" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; text-align: right; width: 300px;">
<div data-google-query-id="CLKq8oGd-OUCFYeOaAod5pgIUw" id="andbeyond3001" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; width: 300px;">
</div>
<div data-google-query-id="CLKq8oGd-OUCFYeOaAod5pgIUw" id="andbeyond3001" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; width: 300px;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-google-query-id="CLKq8oGd-OUCFYeOaAod5pgIUw" id="andbeyond3001" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; width: 300px;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif;">The Doing Business Report surveys regulations governing business activities in the economies which are then ranked according to their ease of doing business scores based on quantitative indicators of the regulations.</span></div>
<div data-google-query-id="CLKq8oGd-OUCFYeOaAod5pgIUw" id="andbeyond3001" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; width: 300px;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-google-query-id="CLKq8oGd-OUCFYeOaAod5pgIUw" id="andbeyond3001" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; width: 300px;">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-56331572995692817832019-11-19T22:49:00.001-08:002019-11-19T22:49:52.073-08:00Global Medical technology & Pharmaceutical MNCs turning to Malaysia <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKEYkf18xfTFUyCTKzk84YG6WS9j4wrYuTBeG2OkpnikBdUHCAueoM1SGNHhEX3sWhPX-3fpb0UNRBKTo_Pp1ggERv-OEsaAS8wJPVW7qETM537BFjUJtzkgHSmrH7DUHngimTAlDIKv5/s1600/thCBD25NZG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="300" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKEYkf18xfTFUyCTKzk84YG6WS9j4wrYuTBeG2OkpnikBdUHCAueoM1SGNHhEX3sWhPX-3fpb0UNRBKTo_Pp1ggERv-OEsaAS8wJPVW7qETM537BFjUJtzkgHSmrH7DUHngimTAlDIKv5/s400/thCBD25NZG.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">GLOBAL medical technology and pharmaceutical firms are turning to Malaysia as their investment destination, as they chart their mid-to-long term growth strategy across the region.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, the focus going forward will be on achieving growth through a science-led innovation strategy, its country president and managing director Dr Sanjeev Panchal said.</span></div>
<div class="sasStoryRectPos" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In March, it was reported that AstraZeneca will invest more than RM500mil in Malaysia over the next five years for a new headquarters and to roll out new robotic and cognitive technology.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With more than RM500mil in investment across 2019 to 2023 in strategic segments of its business operations, including medical, finance, clinical studies and commercial, the company will bring innovation by expanding its footprint in Malaysia.</span></div>
<div class="inlineAd" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 1583px;">
<div id="unruly-native-base-placement-555982" style="border: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box !important; letter-spacing: initial !important; line-height: normal !important; margin: 0px !important; min-height: initial !important; min-width: initial !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0px !important;">
</div>
<div data-google-query-id="CJyw8oqV-OUCFc0jaAodXV8LBw" id="div-gpt-ad-Desktop_TSOL_Business_SP_Mid_OSV" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div id="google_ads_iframe_/21764785206/Desktop/Desktop_TSOL/Desktop_TSOL_Business/Desktop_TSOL_Business_SP_Mid/Desktop_TSOL_Business_SP_Mid_OSV_0__container__" style="border: 0pt none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe data-google-container-id="7" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="1" id="google_ads_iframe_/21764785206/Desktop/Desktop_TSOL/Desktop_TSOL_Business/Desktop_TSOL_Business_SP_Mid/Desktop_TSOL_Business_SP_Mid_OSV_0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/21764785206/Desktop/Desktop_TSOL/Desktop_TSOL_Business/Desktop_TSOL_Business_SP_Mid/Desktop_TSOL_Business_SP_Mid_OSV_0" scrolling="no" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 1px !important; vertical-align: bottom; width: 1px !important;" title="3rd party ad content" width="1"></iframe></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Beyond accelerating our innovation pipeline to patients in Malaysia, AstraZeneca is working with healthcare stakeholders to address gaps in disease management through ‘beyond the pill’ ecosystem a patient-centric approach.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“These includes strong portfolios of medical educations, diagnostics, research, diseases prevent activities and various programmes to increase affordability and access to innovative medicines, designed to achieve better healthcare outcomes for patients in Malaysia.”</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile, global medical technology company Edwards Lifesciences (Edwards) is focusing on creating more awareness of the services it provides, said Japan, Asia and Pacific strategy and business operations director Erik Ramp.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“In Malaysia, there’s growing awareness of structural heart disease. We work closely with Institut Jantung Negara and they are seeing more people coming in and asking about the devices and therapies that we provide. It’s a positive sign as it means that patients are becoming more aware of the treatments that are available.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“The diseases that we treat are not just exclusively to Malaysia. They can happen to anyone anywhere in the world. Worldwide, treatment rates for heart valve disease are traditionally very low, so it’s good that people are becoming more aware and speaking to their doctors.”</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Back in April, it was reported that Edwards will be investing RM100mil in Malaysia over the next five years through its new regional business service centre, which is located at KL Eco City.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“We set up the office here in April 2019 and have grown our headcount from zero employees to 37. We’ve been able to establish a finance, IT and marketing departments to support our operations in Japan, Asia and Pacific, ” said Ramp.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“We expect a lot of our growth next year and the coming years, especially from our businesses in Japan and China. They are two of our biggest growth countries and as that grows, so will our support services here.”</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He added that the RM100mil investment will comprise mostly payroll, training and development, travel budgets and capital expenditure.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">AstraZeneca Asia Pacific global finance services head Madeleine Roach said the group conducted an in-depth study before deciding on a location to set its regional hub.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“We always do a thorough study of the sites that we pick and where we want to establish. Because of the investment requirements, it needs to become a hub where we can find really good talent.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“We invest a lot in upskilling and developing our people because we want to see our people advance in their careers, ” she said. AstraZeneca will also be rolling out an academy to boost its employee skills.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“The academy will focus on core skills from understanding our systems to our brands in the company, to looking into some technical areas like tax, investor relations and areas that they may not necessarily be exposed to.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“The academy will go live in October, ” she said.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Separately, Edwards’ Ramp said one of the challenges of setting up base in Malaysia is that not many people are aware of the services that the company offers.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“We are dedicated to very focused areas of medical technology. We treat structural heart disease, which is a subset of cardiovascular disease and when everyone thinks cardiovascular disease, they think heart attack. We also have technologies that help in the monitoring and treatment of those with critical illness.</span> </div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tying up with InvestKL has helped Edwards to create that much needed awareness, said Ramp.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“InvestKL has helped us in terms of the talent market here, as well as helping us connect with other multinational companies (MNCs), ” he said.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For AstraZeneca, InvestKL has been invaluable in helping it explore new opportunities and possibilities, said Sanjeev.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“InvestKL has facilitated multiple engagements with government agencies, as well as other MNC’s, hence strengthening our company positioning as one of the preferred healthcare MNC-committed firm to support Greater Kuala Lumpur’s proposition as a regional business hub.”</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Apart from that, with this collaboration, InvestKL has assisted and supported the company to increase our visibility among the stakeholders and directing us to the preferred stakeholders to achieve our target as the biggest healthcare MNC in Malaysia, ” he said.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">InvestKL acting chief executive officer Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli meanwhile is optimistic about the prospects of attracting more MNCs like AstraZeneca and Edwards into the country.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Given the country’s ease in doing business, its transparency, efficiency and being investor-friendly, Malaysia is well positioned to become an innovation hub for MNCs looking to grow their business within Asean.”</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">/theSTAR 24-10-2019</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-79845840912408633802019-11-19T22:23:00.000-08:002019-11-19T22:26:58.824-08:00"Pharma Most Ethical Industry" claims MOPI<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The pharmaceutical industry is the most ethical among various industries, while chemical and fertiliser industries have far worse practices, a group of Malaysian generic manufacturers said.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The Malaysian Organisation of Pharmaceutical Industries (MOPI), a 45-member association comprising mostly local generic drug makers, said the pharmaceutical industry had several codes of ethics, as well as other such codes within each company.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9XygvtrLxPkggZYCt8cotVQeYWVeJ7WoKyFAJPdvpJykYo4mwuEbR-8X_3-WpVQVHJ2h3phR-LfCQxOmAqjDaq5-DCwMPNU7g6VmAuo499ltc-a6cMfuZUChxXeMwRglSDwHy46F0DuO/s1600/untitle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="276" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9XygvtrLxPkggZYCt8cotVQeYWVeJ7WoKyFAJPdvpJykYo4mwuEbR-8X_3-WpVQVHJ2h3phR-LfCQxOmAqjDaq5-DCwMPNU7g6VmAuo499ltc-a6cMfuZUChxXeMwRglSDwHy46F0DuO/s400/untitle.png" width="400" /></a></div>
“I worked for 35 years, but in the pharma industry for 12 to 15 years, and I can tell you, among many other industries, the pharma industry is the most ethical industry,” MOPI president Billy Urudra told a seminar Wednesday on good governance for medicines that was jointly organised between the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS), the Malaysian Community Pharmacy Guild (MCPG), MOPI, the Pharmaceutical Association of Malaysia (PhAMA), and the Malaysian Association of Pharmaceutical Suppliers (MAPS).</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
He also pointed out that some government-linked companies (GLCs) in the pharmaceutical industry have already signed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) integrity pledge and instituted company policy against bribery and corruption.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
According to Billy, PhAMA, which mostly represents multinational drug makers, established its code of ethics in 1978, while the ethics codes of MOPI and MAPS, which represents importers of generics, were drawn up in 2012 and 2013 respectively.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
He also pointed out that <a aria-label="MACC had found no evidence of corruption (opens in a new tab)" href="https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2019/10/08/macc-finds-no-corruption-in-public-drug-procurement/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(75, 230, 149) 0px -2px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">MACC had found no evidence of corruption</a> in the supply of medicines to MOH in its investigation on a whistleblower’s claim that three tender agents monopolised MOH’s total medicine tenders between 2013 and 2016, worth RM3.7 billion.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“It has put out this unnecessary and tarnished image of the industry,” Billy said.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The codes of ethics in the pharmaceutical industry, he said, cover various issues related to prescription drugs, such as promotional methods, patient confidentiality, and companies’ interactions with health care professionals, like what kind of accommodation and airfare can be provided to them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Dr Ramli Zainal, senior director of MOH’s Pharmaceutical Services Programme, said enforcement officers and government staff in logistics and pharmacy who deal with the procurement of drugs in hospitals are rotated every three to five years.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“If you look at government procurement, we have a very tight procedure. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) procedure is there. In terms of procedure it’s there, but still the element of human intervention might be there,” Dr Ramli told the seminar.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
He added that MOH’s pharmaceutical programme was tightly regulated, with clear standard operating procedure (SOP) and several committees dealing with product registration.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
MACC senior assistant commissioner Zakiah Hassan said public procurement was a high-risk area for corruption, noting that there is a “very high” number of cases involving public procurement in the health sector.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“We’re in the process of introducing a new law to deal with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">‘ali baba’</em>. The sale of any tenders, procurement, or contracts is an offence,” she told the seminar.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“We’ve brought this up to the government to make it an offence for any bidders to enter tenders but who <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">‘ali babakan’</em> the tenders and procurement,” she added, referring to rent seekers.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The government, Zakiah said, will also tighten laws to require companies bidding for government contracts to declare their “beneficial ownership”.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
A survey on code of conduct run last May among drug distributors, wholesalers, importers, local and foreign manufacturers, and community pharmacies in Malaysia revealed that majority of companies surveyed did not have their own code of conduct, except for mostly foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers. Out of 211 respondents, only 73, or 35 per cent, had an official company policy that governs company staff’s interactions with external stakeholders and clients.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“Upstream industry players, such as distributors, manufacturers and importers, reported a higher proportion of companies with internal code of conduct,” PhAMA executive director Ewe Kheng Huat told the seminar.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“Foreign-based companies have a higher proportion of companies with internal code of conduct compared to local-based organisations.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The activities covered in respondents’ codes of conduct included promotional activities, continuous medical education, and fees for services, among others, while the types of interactions covered were with contractors or suppliers, consumers, health care professionals, medical institutions, and patient organisations.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
In general, Ewe said, most complaints about ethics in the pharmaceutical industry were related to ensuring proper and fair promotional materials.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Dr Hasenah Ali, director of the pharmacy policy and strategic planning under MOH’s pharmaceutical services programme, said the good governance in medicines (GGM) programme, which is under the Malaysian National Medicines Policy (MNMP), was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2004 to ensure the provision of safe, quality, effective, and affordable medicines within a best practice environment.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Malaysia was among the first few countries to join the initiative.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Malaysia’s GGM programme aims to strengthen the health system by promoting good governance in the pharmaceutical sector, to prevent corruption by identifying areas of vulnerability, to increase transparency and accountability in all processes related to the pharmaceutical sector, and to promote individual and institutional integrity.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Areas that are vulnerable to corruption in the pharmaceutical sector include medicines registration, promotion, and selection; licensing; inspections; and procurement.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“We plan to engage with other ministries to collaborate further on GGM initiatives, like the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, MACC, Malaysian Institute of Integrity, and Transparency International-Malaysia,” Dr Hasenah told the seminar.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/CodeBlue 01-11-2019</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-33502728045675043462019-11-19T21:05:00.000-08:002019-11-19T21:07:59.083-08:00MoH extends Pharmaniaga's supply concession<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 1.9rem; padding: 0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHnqEAB1k-tL9qd67e4YLhaHu-Eqwv6bVAKi6WSwjKXfUCBsK6JjXruSi9q7D_oSHok0jzvCMQslmd_cN552rDbOPbU6lXKHpTA788PRBgrvA05NR2v0tvfAFAnbXtfTHQTvrRHgnk_55/s1600/h1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="166" data-original-width="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHnqEAB1k-tL9qd67e4YLhaHu-Eqwv6bVAKi6WSwjKXfUCBsK6JjXruSi9q7D_oSHok0jzvCMQslmd_cN552rDbOPbU6lXKHpTA788PRBgrvA05NR2v0tvfAFAnbXtfTHQTvrRHgnk_55/s1600/h1.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pharmaniaga Bhd says its wholly-owned Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd has received a letter from the Ministry of Health (MOH), extending its services for the provision of medicines and medical supplies to MOH facilities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The services were for an interim 25 months from December 1 2019 to December 31 2021, said Pharmaniaga in a statement today.</span></div>
<div data-id="53" data-m="{"i":53,"p":51,"n":"unruly-article-inlineOutstreamAd","t":"UnrulyInlineOutstreamAd","o":2}" data-muid="0DA1FBD9CDFC65941A0CF5C3CCD064CA" data-providerid="" data-rid="73e151220f9b40e290a2943b739ec464" data-siteid="1081260" id="unruly_outstream_article" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 1.9rem; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pharmaniaga Logistics is also allowed to continue providing logistics and distribution services to MOH for five years ending December 31 2024.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 1.9rem; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the statement, Pharmaniaga says that it remains focused in providing high standards of service and strong operational efficiency to ensure that all key performance indicators are met. In tandem,it is committed to upholding good corporate governance standards </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and transparent practices guided by its MS ISO 37001 Anti Bribery Management System.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Observatio: "Flip flop by the MoH?"</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 1.9rem; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">/NST 19-11-2019</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-42255972598186365542019-11-05T07:15:00.001-08:002019-11-05T07:18:08.735-08:00Patient's choice for Medicines-Source of SupplyThe Ministry of Health (MOH) plans to push legal amendments to enforce mandatory prescriptions by doctors upon their patients’ request.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBTsV7tfO8_UnB4ieoD6KVTOD_JS5vf8u51j2r_I0Q-eRNIst-QHdNS7br3sZT4e6vSoksKIiEgBwfsmi_v9L3RKver_1IC0lmsMhuRks0qNrcLsm3RI7aTvoM9bON5vTCouiFlCa8Ypi/s1600/thP2HOL7AI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="300" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBTsV7tfO8_UnB4ieoD6KVTOD_JS5vf8u51j2r_I0Q-eRNIst-QHdNS7br3sZT4e6vSoksKIiEgBwfsmi_v9L3RKver_1IC0lmsMhuRks0qNrcLsm3RI7aTvoM9bON5vTCouiFlCa8Ypi/s400/thP2HOL7AI.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
“This policy will empower patients and empower them to make choices about the supply of medicines either directly from their treating physician or through a pharmacist based on a prescription,” Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said in a parliament reply yesterday.<br />
<br />
This follows pharmacists demanding last August for doctors to issue prescriptions so that patients can get medicines from pharmacies, as well as for the ability to charge professional consultation fees.<br />
<br />
Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society president Amrahi Buang also called for legislation to enforce pharmacists’ consultation fees.<br />
<br />
He requested for a review of the current government policy that mandates prescriptions only upon patients’ request — as opposed to dispensing separation — citing 2018 statistics by the Medication Error Reporting System (MERS) under the Health Ministry that found about 72 per cent of medication errors occurred during the prescribing process, of which about 93 per cent was reported by pharmacists.<br />
<br />
Note: Could this be the start towards legislating "Dispensing Separation" in Malaysia?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/CodeBlue 01-11-2019</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-62360444367256328222019-11-05T07:03:00.000-08:002019-11-05T07:17:18.590-08:00Price Control may Impact Health Tourism NegativelyMedicine price regulations may affect Malaysia’s medical tourism, a group representing multinational pharmaceutical companies told the government.<br />
<br />
“Medical health tourism is expected to reach RM1.8 billion by year-end, registering a 25 per cent growth. The growth is largely because patients from neighbouring countries seek treatment here, due to the relatively affordable and good private healthcare.”<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kfJVfZOWZtWraFFQQyUcLVUV8U_330BlAA29ldxmyqLmX1SI2XxzHdtEpoM8JVCoN3avf8ydtQmJDs2BDZLdmOSn3XPGJ5MaRxZIdStQjioxSuVjrr3Kc-xc6pZZLILIvdRTYmDyEenu/s1600/thQ1SLB2ZQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="245" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kfJVfZOWZtWraFFQQyUcLVUV8U_330BlAA29ldxmyqLmX1SI2XxzHdtEpoM8JVCoN3avf8ydtQmJDs2BDZLdmOSn3XPGJ5MaRxZIdStQjioxSuVjrr3Kc-xc6pZZLILIvdRTYmDyEenu/s400/thQ1SLB2ZQ.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
“Our drugs are accessible. We have innovative medicines at affordable prices and I think the figure is a testament to that,” Pharmaceutical Association of Malaysia (PhAMA) president Chin Keat Chyuan told The Malaysian Reserve.<br />
<br />
Drug price controls would impact patients’ experience, minimise treatment options, impede access to innovative medicines and reduce Malaysia’s attractiveness as a health tourism destination, he added.<br />
<br />
Chin further said the Health Ministry was only zooming in at single-source drugs, large multinational companies and research and development-based firms, with its proposed drug price ceilings.<br />
<br />
“It could pull foreign investors away.”<br />
<br />
“We do acknowledge that there is up to 900 per cent markup at multiple-source drugs, but this is largely multiple or generic drugs,” Chin pointed out.<br />
<br />
“Free market itself will regulate prices and there will be more options for the people.”<br />
<br />
According to the Medicine Prices Monitoring 2017 report, the maximum price markup for generics sold in private hospitals reached a whopping 900 per cent, compared to a maximum 117 per cent price markup on originator drugs sold in the same facility. Across all private retail premises, the median price markups on medicines were 108 per cent for generics and 28 per cent for innovative drugs respectively.<br />
<br />
The Health Ministry plans to use external reference pricing (ERP) to benchmark drug prices in Malaysia against seven to eight countries by choosing the average three lowest reference prices to determine the maximum medicine prices allowed here.<br />
<br />
Price ceilings are proposed at both the wholesale and retail levels, with violations punished by fines or incarceration.<br />
<br />
PhAMA has proposed a price transparency mechanism, where industry players will declare their wholesale prices and the government can compare the retail prices among players.<br />
<br />
“By doing this, it will be easier for the government to determine which area has been marked up along the value chain. What we want from the government is to not rush their decision,” Chin said, in a bid to cancel proposed medicine price controls.<br />
<br />
PhAMA went even further to advocate mandatory wholesale price declarations for all innovative and generic medicines available in Malaysia, beyond the 400 molecules targeted for price controls.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/Malaysia Reserve 04-11-2019</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-56695891061260749862019-11-05T06:50:00.001-08:002019-11-05T06:50:27.350-08:00Growing Malaysia as a destination for Health Tourism<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">The country’s healthcare and medical sector is expected to attract two million medical tourists in 2020, propped up by the Malaysia Year of Healthcare Travel 2020 (MyHT2020) campaign launched by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC).</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTK5DYZRlMCCOGzJGGisqQ9i9F0Rw6jFwrZMMMXWSDrT5-cPJzFV-NP0xg3Qa8zMmuK8faboooXYEzOAOPicvmpcTC1Xi3WDRm79sY9oiev80lC8TwpOIqcBmbAB3OOUM4KX2jgAb7ti3L/s1600/thCF5JOG5H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="299" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTK5DYZRlMCCOGzJGGisqQ9i9F0Rw6jFwrZMMMXWSDrT5-cPJzFV-NP0xg3Qa8zMmuK8faboooXYEzOAOPicvmpcTC1Xi3WDRm79sY9oiev80lC8TwpOIqcBmbAB3OOUM4KX2jgAb7ti3L/s400/thCF5JOG5H.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah said the campaign, run in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign, would be promoting the importance of physical and mental well-being by inviting everyone to seek health and wellness treatment while enjoying Malaysia’s tourism attractions.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">“We hope with this campaign, we will gain momentum and secure more travellers. We are expecting two million healthcare travellers, bringing in revenue receipts of RM2 billion and contributing RM8 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP),” he told reporters after launching the MyHT2020 here today.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans";">Amiruddin said the forecast number represented a significant increase from last year’s 1.2 million healthcare travellers, who generated RM1.5 billion revenue receipts and contributed RM6.4 billion to the GDP.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans";">“In terms of revenue, Malaysia healthcare tourism’s compound annual growth rate has been an encouraging 17% from 2015 to 2018,” he said.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">Amiruddin said healthcare travel made up some 7.6% of total tourism revenues and was expected to grow strongly going forward.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">Amiruddin said MyHT2020 would also be playing the role of a catalyst to turn Malaysia into a high-income earning nation.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">“MyHT2020 will be a stepping stone towards creating larger demand for healthcare in Malaysia, hence creating a bigger need for healthcare professionals,” he said.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans";"> </span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">“Malaysian healthcare, once known as the ‘Hidden Jewel of Asia’, has been internationally recognised as the Destination of the Year for healthcare travel by UK-based International Medical Travel Journal and the Best Country in the World for Healthcare by US-based International LivIn </span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">MHTC, an agency under the purview of the Finance Ministry, was established in 2009 to facilitate and grow the country’s healthcare travel industry.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">In his 2020 Budget speech to Parliament recently, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the government would allocate RM25 million to MHTC to strengthen Malaysia’s position as the preferred destination for health tourism in Asean for oncology, cardiology and fertility treatment.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans; font-size: xx-small;">/Bernama 31-10-2019</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span></div>
Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-19667918897913786282019-11-05T06:32:00.000-08:002019-11-19T21:08:50.702-08:00Pharmaniaga's concession for medical supply terminated<div class="p0" style="line-height: 14.2pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "lato";">Pharmaniaga's concession to distribute drugs and medical supplies for the Health Ministry will end on November 30 2019. There will be no concessionaire for logistics and distribution services any more, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, and, an open tender system would be introduced instead.</span><span style="font-family: "lato";"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGhbKA1nQ3M7YjUmG2YA0eKnKMynqDlcKuJMxw2S-Ndn_KWCnYCkeNYJgv5dOp_tWWuHkZvQjHVUCq5tBKbko3n4C6_onVzXYuz5sCqoIRrbiNhF1GHO4DPAGxVvx6g7VtKgpVTFMQMFK/s1600/thPYU8S6HZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="256" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGhbKA1nQ3M7YjUmG2YA0eKnKMynqDlcKuJMxw2S-Ndn_KWCnYCkeNYJgv5dOp_tWWuHkZvQjHVUCq5tBKbko3n4C6_onVzXYuz5sCqoIRrbiNhF1GHO4DPAGxVvx6g7VtKgpVTFMQMFK/s400/thPYU8S6HZ.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="p0" style="line-height: 14.2pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "lato";">However, to ensure that medical supplies and health services are not disrupted, Pharmaniaga's services will be extended until the Cabinet decides on the mechanism to manage the open tender</span><span style="font-family: "lato";">, which is hoped to be ready by Q1 2020.</span><span style="font-family: "lato";"> </span></div>
<div class="p0" style="line-height: 14.2pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "lato";">Historically, the existence of a concession company was the result of the privatisation initiative undertaken by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1994. The privatisation involved the concessionaire taking over all the assets and manpower of the Government Medical Stores under the Health Ministry.</span><span style="font-family: "lato";"> </span></div>
<div class="p0" style="line-height: 14.2pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "lato";">Since 2009, the Health Ministry has placed a very strict new terms and KPIs, resulting in substantial improvements in supply, services and distribution</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="line-height: 14.2pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "lato";">For example, Pharmaniaga successfully reduced the delivery period of pharmaceutical supplies from 60 working days to within seven working days in Peninsular Malaysia and 10 working days for Sabah and Sarawak.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="line-height: 14.2pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "lato";">The KPIs also required Pharmaniaga to provide door-to-door service delivery even to the remotest areas in the country.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="line-height: 14.2pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "lato";">It was also required to develop pharmaceutical manufacturers and other companies within the ecosystem under the Vendor Development Programme (VDP), through which vendors are able to increase their economy, job opportunities, development of employees, R&D capabilities, technology transfer and other downstream effects.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="line-height: 14.2pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "lato";">Pharmaniaga, in collaboration with the Health Ministry, was also tasked to develop, implement and maintain the Pharmacy Information System (PhIS), a homegrown system for all government hospitals and health facilities. Completed in 2016, the system reduces wastage through optimal inventory management, lowers the risk of products being expired and minimises medication errors.</span></div>
<div class="p0" style="line-height: 14.2pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
There are optimism, shared, that even with the expected open tender system to be introduced in 2020, Pharmaniaga with its processes, infrastructure and system in place, theoretically, should have no issue in successfully winning the tender to supply.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/theSTAR 31-10-2019</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-67015344892834799032019-10-16T23:49:00.002-07:002019-10-16T23:49:15.924-07:00Budget 2020 - Healthcare<span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Budget 2020 also stated that there would be an initial allocation of RM 60mil to kickstart pneumococcal vaccine for children.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQBR7eLPqIRWvom3_wtonno8V6vwEq6rrUstNQs6YC2BbkvdJG___lqFn-7EBx3wOy8hGEz4tR_hGAi7VBMK7vAcoTfMhoov_-DV28EyZctIA6mJePnYJwvRiknHtjdAfn-Jk1tTPWEvJ/s1600/th%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="215" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQBR7eLPqIRWvom3_wtonno8V6vwEq6rrUstNQs6YC2BbkvdJG___lqFn-7EBx3wOy8hGEz4tR_hGAi7VBMK7vAcoTfMhoov_-DV28EyZctIA6mJePnYJwvRiknHtjdAfn-Jk1tTPWEvJ/s400/th%2521.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The initiative is a good start, however the RM 60mil would not be enough to vaccinate all of the 450,000 birth cohort and the cost of refrigeration required to hold the single dose vials.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a RM 25mil allocation for the Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) as 2020 is a Malaysia Year of Healthcare Travel 2020.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="sasStoryRectPos" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">MHTC is an agency under the Finance Ministry that coordinates with the various private hospitals in facilitating medical tourists from abroad and it also promotes the country’s medical tourism sector overseas.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile, the move to allow an Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawal for fertility treatment such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) is lauded. </span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The reason for the move is because the fertility rate in Malaysia has fallen alarmingly from 4.9 children per woman in the 1970s to 1.9 children per woman, which is below the replacement level.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is also an income tax relief of up to RM 6,000 that was announced to include on expenses incurred on fertility treatment which is an expansion of the definition for medical treatment of serious illnesses tax relief category.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It notes that currently some 70% of of the infertile patients are local with international patients comprising the remainder 30%.</span></div>
<div style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, Arial, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 1.35em; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/12-10-2019</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-31987142896172255052019-10-16T23:29:00.001-07:002019-10-16T23:29:41.449-07:00Malaysia Health Budget 2020<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The Health Ministry has been allocated RM30.6 billion under Budget 2020, marking an RM1.9 billion increase from its RM28.7 billion allocation in the previous federal government budget.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjEsUw1I2BN7E2eXArua7l0efE2mapItmBNe5pWk9UNdnqQMi0-Yx_l4Nh4eWk0QQ8GQrFjwq-slXb9ZuS08z0OwD7otR5PN2y1sgM3Lq5pOnYVyOU_53V6Bk2-tEYhv_rBstmZc5KZqJ/s1600/72219497_10156407592221237_668393672575811584_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="820" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjEsUw1I2BN7E2eXArua7l0efE2mapItmBNe5pWk9UNdnqQMi0-Yx_l4Nh4eWk0QQ8GQrFjwq-slXb9ZuS08z0OwD7otR5PN2y1sgM3Lq5pOnYVyOU_53V6Bk2-tEYhv_rBstmZc5KZqJ/s400/72219497_10156407592221237_668393672575811584_n.png" width="341" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The 6.6% raise in the budget for public health care next year was smaller than the 7.8% increase in Budget 2019.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
However, the Health Ministry’s percentage of allocation from the total government budget was bigger than in 2019, comprising 10.3% of the overall RM297 billion 2020 budget, compared to 9.1% out of Budget 2019’s RM316.6 billion.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px;">The Health Ministry received the third biggest allocation, after the Finance and Education Ministries at RM37.8 billion and RM64.1 billion respectively. T</span><span style="color: #14171a; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">hese three make up<span style="font-family: inherit;"> 44.6% </span>of total expenditure.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The allocation under services and supplies for the Health Ministry’s operational budget also saw a minimal increase, from RM10 billion in 2019 to RM10.9 billion.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
However, the services and supplies allocation under the Health Ministry’s development budget was reduced from RM476.9 million to RM318.1 million in 2020.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Drugs and medications fall under services and supplies. The government will conduct pool procurement of RM500 million worth of medicines across Ministry of Health, Defence and public university hospitals, according to Budget 2020. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The government would intensify “Buy Made In Malaysia” product campaigns.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
To support the local medical device industry, the government will introduce an initiative to encourage local producers to upgrade equipment and tools used in public clinics and hospitals, based on a minimum allocation of 30 per cent.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The government will also allow pre-retirement withdrawals for private retirement schemes (PRS) for the purposes of health care and housing, based on the same terms as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The Health Ministry’s allocation for emoluments increased from RM16 billion for 2019 to RM16.5 billion. </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/11-10-2019</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-16659361487536872022019-10-09T09:26:00.001-07:002019-10-09T09:26:46.259-07:00 Top 10 Global Pharma companies in 2019:<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The global pharmaceutical industry reached unprecedented heights in 2018, being estimated at an astounding USD1.11 trillion. By 2020, this figure is se<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">t to rise to USD1.43 trillion. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5MWAWTTPxjB_ecX3pUukbT8Oro6457SqCU5PdoWZmdBmJ3P76xHF21lyrYQ9mkTr3WEafvVNLwAVIEU-RYhfW7RxvsEEOv8A6JWnnTSIW3nM9sC6cD7dr_MiuZWhlrxDK7ktm-QSDtaj/s1600/Top%252B10%252BPharma%252B2019%252B-%252BBanner%252B01+%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="654" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5MWAWTTPxjB_ecX3pUukbT8Oro6457SqCU5PdoWZmdBmJ3P76xHF21lyrYQ9mkTr3WEafvVNLwAVIEU-RYhfW7RxvsEEOv8A6JWnnTSIW3nM9sC6cD7dr_MiuZWhlrxDK7ktm-QSDtaj/s400/Top%252B10%252BPharma%252B2019%252B-%252BBanner%252B01+%25282%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">With rising pressure to develop drugs to meet ever increasing global demand, pharmaceutical companies continue to work tirelessly to bring the most innovative and cutting-edge treatments to patients.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Being a research-driven industry, approximately USD150 billion is spent by pharmaceutical companies every year on research and development projects. Out of thousands of compounds, only a small percentage gain regulatory approval to be used by patients to treat disease and improve quality of life. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">However, in 2018, a record number of novel drugs developed by pharmaceutical companies across the globe were approved by various regulatory bodies. A large proportion were approved by the US regulatory body, the FDA, which approved 55 novel drugs and smashed its record for generic approvals (781 up from 763 in 2017).</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Although the USA’s market share of the global pharmaceutical industry is worth over USD 341.1 billion, the Chinese, South East Asian, Eastern European and South American markets are beginning to emerge. For example, the Chinese market is rich with preclinical and early-phase drugs, and is a growing nucleus of biotech activity. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The next few years will see global growth thanks to the increasing wealth worldwide, as well as increasing demand to maintain high levels of innovation to combat unmet medical need.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Proclinical has ranked the leading pharmaceutical companies according to 2018 revenue from their <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">pharmaceutical segment only</span>. </span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">1) Pfizer </span></h3>
<div style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 53.7 billion</span></span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">2) Roche</span></h3>
<div style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 45.6 billion</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">3) Johnson & Johnson </span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 40.7 billion</span></span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">4) Sanofi</span></h3>
<div class="edit" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 39.3 billion</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">5) Merck & Co </span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 37.7 billion</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">6) Novartis</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 34.9 billion</span></span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">7) AbbVie</span></h3>
<div style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 32.8 billion</span></span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">8) Amgen</span></h3>
<div class="edit" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 23.7 billion</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">9) GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 23 billion</span></span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">10) Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) </span></h3>
<div style="background-color: #f6f6f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">USD 22.6 billion</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/proclinical 20-03-2019</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-24407733240588797302019-10-03T09:19:00.001-07:002019-10-04T08:32:25.059-07:00Merdeka Healthcare Birthday Wishes<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Merdeka Healthcare Wishes - CodeBlue with Choe Tong Seng</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2f2f33; font-weight: 600;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">What health policies should the government focus on as we reach our 62nd year of independence?</em></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6KLigbPteveY5NuiwmLjka8D6pfxI1pkvV1We0hgikikyVEufPfiHVDJcX73ki4ijnzsS2wcyxuhuSMgHs4Fv5DZe9sfRcmvT9rrWf-12Fp4vcP53SiYbH6KLtC_JAL9PURr3P4yCMcM/s1600/untitled3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="193" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6KLigbPteveY5NuiwmLjka8D6pfxI1pkvV1We0hgikikyVEufPfiHVDJcX73ki4ijnzsS2wcyxuhuSMgHs4Fv5DZe9sfRcmvT9rrWf-12Fp4vcP53SiYbH6KLtC_JAL9PURr3P4yCMcM/s400/untitled3.png" width="354" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
CTS: It is time that the country formulates a “National Health Policy” that is reviewed every three years to provide focus and drive the development for the future health care needs, services and structures etc to meet the changing demographics, health care deliveries, disease burden, new medical technologies, resource allocation in manpower and financials etc.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
This is also to facilitate in synchronising and/or integrate “public and private health care” development and deliveries for the future, for example health care financing, better management of patient medicine adherence and safety etc.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
As at present, different health care sub sector/ stakeholder has its own priority in the development of health care needs. Further, with each change of the Minister of Health, health care priorities often do change as well.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2f2f33; font-weight: 600;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">What do you think the government can do better in terms of health care?</em></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
CTS: 1) Mutual respect and transparency for public-private partnership stakeholders’ meetings/ dialogues. <span style="color: #2f2f33; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">There is a suspicion by the private sector that often times the meetings/ dialogues are for endorsing the government programmes, rather than a meeting/ dialogue where consensus are agreed upon and then implemented.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
2) Regulatory impact analysis should be carried out for any intended policy that may have a long-term impact for the <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">rakyat<i> </i></span>and the industry, for example the price control and dispensing separation for medicines. Any decision made by the ministry should be objective and with full transparency, with the <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">rakyat</span> and the national interest in mind.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2f2f33; font-weight: 600;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">What kind of health allocations are you hoping for in the upcoming Budget 2020?</em></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
CTS: The government must allocate adequate financial funding for the health care sector. Over the last few years, only about 4.5 per cent of the GDP is contributed towards health care despite the growth of population, ageing population, changing disease burden, growing NCDs, cost of medicines and new medical technology etc.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Instead of “just looking at cutting cost” for short-term solutions, where the delivery of services of the health care to the rakyat could suffer and deteriorate, the government should, in addition, consider allocating 6 to 7 per cent of the GDP, as recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization) for developing nations, towards the health care sector. A healthy nation is the anchor towards achieving economic growth and stability.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">/31-08-2019</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-28744283379544863072019-10-03T09:00:00.001-07:002019-10-03T09:00:23.448-07:00IHH acquiring Prince Court Hospital<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
IHH Healthcare Bhd is planning to fully acquire Prince Court Medical Centre from Khazanah Nasional Berhad for RM1.02 billion in cash by March 2020.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
IHH’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Pantai Holdings Sdn Bhd, inked a conditional share purchase agreement with Pulau Memutik Ventures Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah, for the acquisition of 100 million ordinary shares and 35,176 redeemable preference shares in the private hospital company, representing the entire issued share capital of Prince Court.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“We are pleased to be adding Prince Court Medical Centre to our existing network of 15 hospitals across Malaysia.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3KY4AxPLXp23YhmLJQ5ZwYzR2Lo2ShHABwOrLaDbKY8zzZ1TwDRjGfePV61NwxTOh7We6baBsIdPCiuRau3xGWgPxqGUnYJF9aTxt1OOKT9umZY_yfI-5dVt45I47fww1Y5-_Pc4mKgG/s1600/thPAOTI4AN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3KY4AxPLXp23YhmLJQ5ZwYzR2Lo2ShHABwOrLaDbKY8zzZ1TwDRjGfePV61NwxTOh7We6baBsIdPCiuRau3xGWgPxqGUnYJF9aTxt1OOKT9umZY_yfI-5dVt45I47fww1Y5-_Pc4mKgG/s400/thPAOTI4AN.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“This is a rare opportunity to acquire an attractive and accretive asset in Kuala Lumpur’s ‘Golden Triangle’ that will strengthen IHH’s position in Malaysia while allowing us to capture the growing medical tourism market,” IHH CEO-designate Dr Kelvin Loh said in a statement today.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Prince Court owns and operates a 277-bed private health care facility that provides a wide range of medical, surgical and hospital services in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, such as burns management, cancer, gastrointestinal diseases, interventional cardiology, in vitro fertilisation, nephrology, occupational health, orthopaedic and rehabilitation medicine.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
IHH currently runs 14 Pantai and Gleneagles Hospitals in Malaysia. The government-linked corporation’s 2018 PATMI (profit after tax and minority interests) excluding exceptionals increased 73 per cent year-on-year to a record high of RM1.03 billion, and paid its outgoing CEO, Dr Tan See Leng, RM34 million last year.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“This transaction is in line with our refreshed mandate and provides Khazanah with the liquidity for our future investment capital requirements,” Khazanah managing director Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said in a separate statement.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“In addition, Khazanah is confident that Prince Court will further benefit from IHH’s wealth of experience in providing premium health care, whilst solidifying IHH’s position as leading Malaysian health care provider, where we remain a substantial shareholder with a 26.04 per cent stake.”</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">codeblue/17-09-2019</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806165314663707609.post-35242209660858272592019-10-03T08:49:00.003-07:002019-10-03T09:00:45.638-07:00Malaysia Elderly Ageing healthily?<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Only 11% of Malaysian elderly people aged healthily in 2015, down from 13% from 2002 to 2006, a study has shown.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Dr Suzana Shahar, head of the Centre of Healthy Aging and Wellness at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said her 2015 research showed that only about 1 out of 10 Malaysian senior citizens experienced “successful” or healthy ageing, which means an absence of illnesses like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or stroke; no functional limitation; good cognition or mental health; no depression; good quality of life; and good self-perception on health.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
A total of 16% experienced mild cognitive impairment, while 73% had “usual ageing”, which means extrinsic factors alone increase the effects of ageing, unlike “successful ageing” in which external factors play a neutral or positive role.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
According to a <a aria-label="1987 study by Rowe JW and Kahn RL, (opens in a new tab)" href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/237/4811/143" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(75, 230, 149) 0px -2px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">1987 study by Rowe JW and Kahn RL,</a> the effects of the ageing process are exaggerated, while the modifying effects of diet, personal habits, exercise, and psychosocial factors are underestimated.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHV_vKbxkMPBJ0qzdU-Q5T1IXiMtYlPBFoj5l7ql_3xKLGFNpgB5w69vr7xi55yNX3-AVTHGueSC2-AL7WmhOXhL1BnrCHFj4pwrbqRAUrU1swbVZLf1EdyO9PfonAc21Z5p_xvX1Z0pZ/s1600/Malaysia-Australia-aging-with-disability_Suzana.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="702" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHV_vKbxkMPBJ0qzdU-Q5T1IXiMtYlPBFoj5l7ql_3xKLGFNpgB5w69vr7xi55yNX3-AVTHGueSC2-AL7WmhOXhL1BnrCHFj4pwrbqRAUrU1swbVZLf1EdyO9PfonAc21Z5p_xvX1Z0pZ/s400/Malaysia-Australia-aging-with-disability_Suzana.png" width="400" /></a>Dr Suzana told a recent roundtable discussion organised by the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy here on malnutrition that Malaysia’s prevalence of healthy aging at 11% was below Singapore (17.8%) and Thailand (27.5%), but was about the same as the United States (10.9%) and slightly higher than Europe (8.5%).</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
She also cited a 2011 study by Lee LK et al that found about 20% mild cognitive impairment among the bottom 40% of income earners (B40), higher than the national prevalence rate of 16%.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Only 3% of Singaporean elderly suffered frailty, said Dr Suzana, citing a 2014 study, compared to 7.5% in the Klang Valley in Malaysia. The Klang Valley’s pre-frailty rate was 65%, double that of Singapore’s 32%. Almost two-thirds of Singaporean elderly, or 65%, were robust, compared to just 27.5% in the Klang Valley.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Dr Suzana said her research found that almost 40% of Malaysian senior citizens suffered from cognitive pre-frailty and cognitive frailty. She had also discovered that three to four out of 10 older adults in Malaysia experienced sarcopenia, or loss of muscle mass linked with ageing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“We found that older Malaysians have no problem with social networking, but they’re not like the Koreans and Japanese which do cognitive stimulation. You can see older adults there play games to improve cognition. But not an awareness for older Malaysians to engage with cognitive stimulation.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Malaysia, she said, was ageing at a higher rate of disability compared to Australia, with dementia being a major cause of disability among older Malaysians, followed by musculoskeletal and visual-hearing conditions.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“As [a] conclusion, we are entering an ageing nation with little body reserve to be prepared, with little muscle mass, not so good in respect to metabolic condition, biological and brain reserve.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“Poor socio-economic status, mental health and physical function increase risk of malnutrition and poor health of aging Malaysians,” Dr Suzana said.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Malaysia was ageing much faster than other nations, estimated to take only 23 years from those aged 65 and above forming 7% of the population in 2020 to that age group forming 14% of the population in 2043. In comparison, the proportion of the aged rising from 7% to 14% of the population would take the UK 45 years, the US 69 years, and France 115 years, according to a 2015 study by Ismail et al that she cited.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Dr Suzana called for dietary changes and better nutrition, stressing that middle-age intervention was not too late.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“Now we have to focus on the middle age, if we can change something on middle age, we can see some improvement in aged population.”</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">codeblue/24-09-2019</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.
</span>Dr TS Choehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963954371371252557noreply@blogger.com0