KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia will be receiving €1.7 million (RM8.4 million) from the European Union as part of a three-year Southeast Asian health pandemic response and preparedness project.
In Malaysia, the action will focus on Covid-19 activities such as multi-source surveillance and testing strategies, subnational analysis and risk assessment, risk communication and community engagement, support for the immunisation programme, and strengthening of essential health services.
The €20 million programme includes Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
To mark this partnership, the EU and World Health Organisation held a virtual event today that was attended by EU ambassador to Malaysia Michalis Rokas, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, and Dr Lo Ying-Ru Jacqueline, the WHO representative to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Singapore.
“Global cooperation and solidarity are fundamental for fighting the virus and for a sustainable global recovery. The launch of this new and important health project is one more step in helping each other and a token of EU-Malaysia friendship and solidarity.
“The aim is to strengthen our mutual pandemic preparedness and to support Malaysia dealing with this health emergency and its consequences,” said Rokas.
“We are truly humbled by the generosity of the EU for this substantial contribution. Evidently, it will be very helpful to us in our efforts to combat this Covid-19 pandemic,” said Adham.
“Malaysia has always had an excellent working relationship with WHO and we are proud to be part of this partnership and collaboration.
“This will certainly boost our healthcare system and continue to ensure that the national control measures are in place for the ongoing pandemic.”
WHO, through its Western Pacific and Southeast Asia regional offices, will also bolster its engagement and exchange of best practices with Asean.
In this initiative, WHO plays a critical role in supporting coordination, providing technical expertise across critical pandemic management areas, and capturing lessons from the ground up to help address systemic challenges and effectively deal with future disease outbreaks.
“Malaysia has a strong health system and years of experience in health emergency preparedness and response. But the pandemic has challenged health systems not only in Malaysia, but around the world,” said Lo. – The Vibes, June 22, 2021
