KUALA LUMPUR – The country’s efficiency in managing the coronavirus pandemic continues to be recognised globally – this time through the ranking of the Covid-19 Performance Index by Lowy Institute, a think-tank based in Sydney, Australia.
According to the institute’s findings, Malaysia, with an average score of 71%, is currently in 16th place, ahead of Finland, Norway and South Korea, but three places below neighbouring Singapore, which is ranked 13th.
While it can be considered an encouraging achievement, local medical experts are of the opinion that the current Covid-19 situation in the country, which has claimed more than 700 lives and recorded more than 200,000 cumulative cases, requires the government to make strategic changes.
Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said this is mainly to prevent frontliners from experiencing extreme fatigue that could affect their health and performance in discharging their duties.
Dr Zainal Ariffin, who is a former World Health Organisation consultant for the Non-Communicable Disease Prevention programme in Vietnam, said it is time for non-medical volunteers to be called in, as is the primary healthcare practice in Thailand and Vietnam.
According to him, the volunteers can be assigned to perform simple tasks, such as close contact tracing, monitoring compliance with standard operating procedures and on those under home quarantine, as well as disseminating health information, including in rural areas.
“It is better that we call for a million volunteers, representing 32 million people... They must not be from existing government agencies that already have a huge workload.
“These volunteers have to be available in every locality in towns and villages, and they must be trained with a specific module by an authority and given support. The National Security Council and National Disaster Management Agency can coordinate and monitor them.”
University of Malaya Tropical Infectious Disease Research and Education Centre director Prof Dr Sazaly Abu Bakar also shares the same sentiment.
He said Malaysia needs to establish cooperation and exchange views with countries that have managed to control the Covid-19 mortality rate, such as Singapore, Taiwan and China.
“If possible, we should see treatment developments in other countries, for example China, which uses traditional methods.”
Dr Sazaly also expresses the need for the views of experts from local universities to be considered and applied, rather than leaving the matter to the Health Ministry alone.
Prior to this, 46 health experts had proposed that a special Covid-19 task force be formed, with members comprising medical and economic experts, as well as from various sectors, to provide advice and coordinate responses from various ministries and agencies in the government. – Bernama, January 31, 2021
