Aussie Surgeons To Teach In M'sia

MELBOURNE, Feb 26 (Bernama) -- South Australian craniofacial surgeons will help train doctors in Malaysia as part of a new research and teaching programme.

Prof David David from the Adelaide-based Australian Craniofacial Institute will finalise the arrangements with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang.

Under the memorandum of understanding, the institute will provide clinical support, education and training on the treatment of patients with craniofacial disorders to the medical team and students at its university hospital in Kubang Kerian, Kota Baharu.

Both organisations will also undertake collaborative research on Malaysian patients with craniofacial disorders.

The agreement consolidated Adelaide's reputation as a centre of excellence, Prof David told the Australian Associated Press (APP).

"I firmly believe that we should be spreading this knowledge to our neighbours and I am very pleased that this agreement is now being formalised," he said.

"We have been working with the university informally over the past four years and I believe we have all benefited from the sharing of information and knowledge," he added.

-- BERNAMA

Patients With Heat-induced Ailments Soar As Temperatures Rise

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 (Bernama) -- Patients with heat-induced ailments have soared following weeks of hot and dry weather afflicting the country, according to a Health Ministry study in Port Klang.

Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said the study found a dramatic increase in patients registering at the public hospital complaining about ailments relating to heat.

He said there were 1,412 cases in December last year but they increased more than three-fold to 4,297 cases in January.

Among the ailments were respiratory tract infections which rose from 419 cases in December to 1,322 in January, asthmatic cases from 32 to 124 and conjunctivitis cases from seven to 32, he told reporters at a briefing today on the health effects of the current hot spell that has triggered a rash of bush and forest fires and enveloped several states in thick haze.

The Department of Environment Saturday announced that the number of areas experiencing unhealth air quality had risen to 11 in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan from eight Friday.

Dr Chua said children below five and adults above 40 years of age, including people suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems and lung infection, were more prone to health problems in the present condition of poor air quality.

"Hot weather can bring health problems especialy to the high risk groups -- farmers, manual workers and athletes," he added.

He said heat rashes due to sweat and heat fatigue were two common symptoms resulting from extensive exposure to heat.

If not treated, a person could suffer from heat "syncope", whose sympthoms were giddiness and fainting, and this would be followed by heat cramp and finally heat stroke which could be fatal, he said.

He advised people to reduce outdoor activities, especially those in the high risk group, and extra-curricular activities for school children should be reduced if the air quality in the particular area was bad.

As precautionary measures, people should also drink more water and not wear tight clothes.

-- BERNAMA

Woman Dies After Donating Kidney To Husband

SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- A 33-year-old woman died shortly after one of her kidneys was removed and donated to her ailing husband last week, the Straits Times reported.

Her husband, 35, who has been on dialysis with kidney failure for several years, survived the Feb 16 operation and will soon be discharged from the National University Hospital, a report in the newspaper said.

The couple have three children, aged 10, nine and two.

The Straits Times said the death was the first in almost 30 years of kidney transplants from living donors in Singapore.

"I'm deeply saddened by this tragic death," Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan said.

"This is a setback...we'll have to wait and see why the patient died and see what we have to do to ensure this doesn't happen again," he said.

According to the newspaper, a post-mortem was carried out and the case was now with the Coroner's Court.

The report said the hospital was also conducting an internal investigation into the death.

It said Singapore first carried out living-related kidney transplants in 1976 and had done over 400 to date.

Last year, 52 patients received a kidney from a family member, while 32 got them from dead donors, the newspaper said. The operation is considered very safe for both donor and recipient, with one death out of 3,000 kindey donors worldwide.

The average waiting time in Singapore for a kidney transplant from someone who has recently died is seven years.

-- BERNAMA

Aussie MOH meets son he gave up for adoption

Aussie government minister meets son he gave up for adoption

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australia's health minister and the son he gave up for adoption nearly 30 years ago have met for the first time, and in an amazing twist of fate discovered that they worked alongside each other in the country's Parliament building.

Daniel O'Connor was a newborn when Tony Abbott and his then-girlfriend Kathy Donnelly gave him up for adoption in 1977.

Abbott, a staunch Catholic and Rhodes Scholar who is a vocal opponent of abortion, has in the past admitted he gave up a baby for adoption but until recently did not know his identity.

O'Connor is a sound recordist in the Parliament bureau of the Australian Broadcasting Corp. and has stood next to Abbott during interviews.

O'Connor said Monday that he only learned late last year that Abbott was his father after tracking down Donnelly through an adoption agency.

"I was quite shocked really. I was just surprised more than anything that I worked in the same building as him and had met him on numerous occasions,'' he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio from Britain, where he was on vacation.

Abbott said he also was shocked to learn he had been working in the same building as his son.

"He and I had frequently been within touching distance of each other,'' he told ABC radio.

"In particular the poor fellow had on occasion had to put an earpiece into my waxy ear. Whoever would have thought that two people hitherto unknown to each other but rather close to each other could have been so connected in this way.''

Abbott, who is married with three daughters, said he hoped to stay in touch with Daniel.

"It's up to Daniel how much contact he wants to have with me and Kathy but I very much hope he would like to have pretty close contact,'' he said.

Abbott said that his wife, Margie, and his daughters have "said to him that he ought to regard himself as part of the family, and I certainly won't be out of touch for the length of time that I was.'' - AP

Just fancy this, working in the same building and not knowing that they are in fact father and son. Well things do seem to have turned up well in the end for them. Tony Abbott's reunion with his son after giving him up for adoption 27 years ago has created headlines around Australia. And even the Aussie PM is commenting on it. This story has thrown a spotlight on the difficult and often traumatic decisions that face those involved in the adoption process. Read more here.

Dr Chua: More Than Half Trainee Nurses Fail Qualifying Exam

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- The number of trainee nurses who pass their qualifying test in nurses training colleges run by the Health Ministry is very low and worrying, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Monday.

Last year, only 44.4 per cent, less than half of the 2,000 trainee nurses passed the test, he said.

The ministry viewed the matter seriously as the country was still lagging behind in meeting the target set by the World Health Organisation by 2020, which requires a nurse for every 200 residents (1:200), he told reporters.

He said there were about 40,000 trained nurses working in government and private hospitals nationwide, with a ratio of one nurse to 645 people.

"To achieve the 1:200 ratio, we need to have about 170,000 nurses. From now until 2020, we've to train 130,000 nurses or about 8,000 a year.

"Now, we are only training 3,000 a year, either by the ministry or by private nursing colleges recognised by the ministry," he said.

He said the situation had been compounded by the high failure rate among trainee nurses.

Chua said a study by the Health Management Institute found most of the failed trainees did not have credits in English and Science at the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia level.

He said the high failure rate problem did not exist in the Health Ministry-recognised private colleges where the passing rate was 98 per cent last year.

There are 37 nurses training centres country-wide. Five more are to be built under the Ninth Malaysia Plan in Perak, Johor Baharu, Alor Star, Sabah and Kuching.

-- BERNAMA

National Health Financing Scheme?

PLAIN TALK: Proper management of services needed
Brendan Pereira

Feb 13:
TWENTY. That is the number of years the Government has been mulling over the idea of abandoning the country's highly-subsidised healthcare in favour of a national health financing scheme.

Twelve.

That is the number of studies commissioned by the Government over the years to evaluate health financing schemes.

There is a reason why the authorities agonised for two decades over this issue.

They feared a political fallout, and preferred tip-toeing around an obvious solution to keeping the lid on escalating health costs.

Medical care is one of the most contentious and emotionally-charged issues, anywhere.

Governments have been known to pay a steep price at the ballot box for a misstep on health services.

In Malaysia, the potential for any health issue becoming a political minefield is serious.

As long as anyone can remember, Malaysians have only had to pay RM1 for a buffet of medical services at public hospitals.

It did not matter if you lived in a palatial home in Damansara or in a ramshackle hut in working-class Pantai Dalam.

If you were a citizen of this country, you were entitled to dirt-cheap medical services.

Anyone prepared to tamper with this system was either brave and responsible or had a penchant for dangerous living.

When Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek announced in December that the Government had decided to adopt a national health financing scheme, he expected a ruckus. Or at least some noise.

He said in a recent interview with The Sunday Times: "I want a debate on this issue. It is an important issue that needs to be discussed openly in a mature way.''

What he got was silence. Not a squeak from the opposition or probing questions from members of the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition.

Even the public seemed blase about this change in approach, perhaps lulled into believing that the government would always be in a position to subsidise medical services by more than 95 per cent .

Yet, introducing a health financing scheme is a big deal and needs to be thrashed out fully.

The Abdullah administration believes that Malaysia can no longer put off introducing a health financing scheme, not with the cost of healthcare rising every year.

The budget for the Health Ministry has increased from RM1 billion or 3.6 per cent of the National Budget in 1983 to RM7.6 billion or 7.1 per cent of the Budget in 2003.

"Obviously, the situation is not sustainable in the long-term," said Chua.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi gave the go-ahead for the health financing scheme in November.

Under the scheme currently in the final stages of fine-tuning, civil servants and their dependants, pensioners and their dependants, the disabled and the poor will still benefit from full coverage by the Government.

For this 10 million people, they will still be able to get medical treatment at public hospitals for a nominal fee.

Those not under this umbrella of benevolence will have to pay more for medical services.

This group includes the 11.9 million Malaysians who are working and earning decent salaries.

They will pay for their medical services through direct taxes, employee pension fund contributions, private health insurance and out-of-pocket payments.

How much some Malaysians will have to pay a month for medical services is still being worked out but the New Sunday Times understands that previous studies done suggest that each person will have to pay as little as RM35 a month to get basic healthcare services in public hospitals.

If they want higher end medical care, then they will have to obtain it at private hospitals and pay for it through their own health insurance or in cash.

Nearly two-thirds of Malaysians do not have medical insurance, a Straits Times survey last year showed.

Only 22 per cent of Malays had medical insurance, 57 per cent Chinese and 52 per cent Indians.

The study also showed that on average, many Malaysian visited doctors at least three times a year.

The National Health Financing Scheme calls for the setting up of National Health Financing Authority, a statutory board owned by the Government.

The authority will manage the health financing scheme. In all likelihood, it will contract other agencies to perform functions like premium collection, claims processing and the management of the medical services.

In reality, the success or failure of the scheme rests in the proper management of medical services.

The easy part of the scheme is collecting premiums and enrolling people into the scheme.

The tough part is making sure that the public does not feel they are being given sub-par medical care or a mere digits in a cost-driven system.

That is why it is critical that the National Health Financing Authority outsource critical functions of the scheme to reliable partners.

If the public feels that there has been a discernible drop in service once the National Health Financing Scheme starts, there will be hell to pay.

At that point, no amount of spin will be able to hush the critics.

----NST

Health Ministry Moves To Woo M'sian Specialists Abroad

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 2 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry will shorten the three-year compulsory service in government hospitals in a move to attract Malaysian specialists to return to serve in the country.

Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said the relaxation offered to specialists with degrees and qualifications recognised by the Malaysian Medical Council was among steps taken to overcome shortage of specialists in certain disciplines.

Easing of the condition was agreed to by the Cabinet in its weekly meeting Wednesday, he told reporters.

Dr Chua said a special committee comprising health ministry secretary-general, health services director-general and his deputy would be set up to evaluate the specialists' qualifications.

Bone marrow transplant and liver transplant surgeons and oncologists are among the specialists needed, he said.

He, however, said the relaxation would be given on a case-by-case basis.

Dr Chua said his ministry would also cut short the compulsory housemanship period at government hospitals to Malaysian specialists with advanced medical degrees from the United Kingdom from 18 months to six-and-a-half months.

He said Malaysian specialists aged 45 and above who returned to serve in the country would be exempted from the three-year compulsory service with government hospitals.

"To those below 45, relaxation of the compulsory service period will be decided by the committee," he said.

Dr Chua explained the relaxation was only for Malaysian specialists currently serving in foreign countries and not for local medical degree graduates.

Dr Chua also explained the Bahasa Malaysia examination for 300 government doctors who did not have a credit in the national language would be held twice.

"We have a special module for them so that they will be proficient in BM but not at Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia level, so long they can speak and write BM at an accepted level," he added.

-- BERNAMA

This latest effort by the MOH to recruit badly needed medical specialists from overseas again does not appear to be a serious attempt. Why the six and a half months of housemanship and the proficiency in BM? Is their proficiency as medical specialists or theri proficiency in BM more important? As for enforcing the housemanship, these specialists that the gomen hope to recruit have been doctors for many years prior to obtaining their specialisation and it would serve little purpose to put them through housemanship again, no matter how short the stint. The MOH should just do away with that if it is really interested in wooing anyone of those specialists.