COMMENT | Time for a Ministry of Public Health
A
-
COMMENT | For 15 years, the Malaysian Paediatric Association and its partners have been fighting for the inclusion of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) into the National Immunisation Programme (NIP).
We studied the burden of the disease, researched the serotypes at play in our community, examined the increasing resistance of the bacterium to our arsenal of antibiotics and demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of the PCV.
It took a new government in 2019 to appreciate our endeavours, empathise with the loss of innocent lives and the disabilities inflicted by the pneumococcus, as well as the need for bigger investment in the health of our children. They rolled out the PCV in our NIP in 2020.
COMMENT | Covid-19 vaccines: In God we trust, all else we audit
Modified17 Feb 2021, 10:55 pm
A
-
COMMENT | The Covid-19 vaccines have been under public scrutiny since the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech was first granted early and limited use by the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Dec 2, 2020.
Nine days later, emergency use authorisation (EUA) was issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine.
The Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine has since been authorised for use in 61 countries, including Malaysia. It is also the first Covid-19 vaccine to be given emergency use validation by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Dec 30, 2020, which also emphasised the need for global equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.
COMMENT | Covid-19 management: If it ain t broke, don t fix it
Modified24 Jan 2021, 4:17 am
A
-
COMMENT | The data shows that the Health Ministry is doing relatively well. The risk of a Covid-19 death per population in Malaysia is one per 50,000.
This compares favourably against the global average of one per 3,676.
It is worse in the UK and US, one per 700 and 781 respectively.
Singapore’s Covid-19 death per population is four times better at one per 200,000.
Put it another way, there are five, 20, 272, 1,280 and 1,429 deaths per million population in Singapore, Malaysia, World, US and UK respectively.
Testing and the consequent positive rate is a critical metric for understanding the pandemic, how it is spreading and whether it is under control or not. With this testing data, we can learn from the countries that are doing well at controlling the pandemic and which countries are just underreporting cases and deaths.
Concerned doctors open letter to Muhyiddin gets a personal response
Published
A
-
An open letter by a group of 46 doctors has elicited a personal response from Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
The 46 doctors had, in an
open letter on Jan 7, expressed worry at the very bleak state of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
Among the signatories included former Health Ministry director-general Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman, Federation of Islamic Medical Associations secretary-general Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman and former Health Ministry deputy director-general Christopher Lee.
They also called for the pandemic not to be politicised but to.
All Access Plan
We the undersigned view with much apprehension and concern the current status of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
Our national metrics paint a very bleak picture of Covid-19 pandemic management. Despite movement control orders (MCOs) and other health interventions, the daily reported cases are not decreasing.
The Cumulative Incidence Density (per 100,000 population) and the Infection Rate (active cases per 1,000 population) is not flattening, with the latest national Infection Rate registered at 0.879 per 1,000 population, meaning between eight and nine persons are actively infected for every 10,000 people.
The testing positive rate (rolling seven-day average) is rising, registering 8.9 percent on Jan 3,2021, well above the World Health Organization s (WHO) 5.0 percent benchmark of effective pandemic control and containment.