Permata Hospital to offer genetic screening service
Published on: Thursday, June 02, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: The Permata Children's Specialist Hospital (HKK Permata) which is set to be operational in 2018 will offer comprehensive genetic screening service to help identify diseases based on the genetics of children at an early state.HKK Permata Project Management Committee chairman, Prof Datuk Dr A. Rahman A. Jamal said the hospital would subsequently conduct research based on the genetic profile screened to study the types of illnesses which often afflict Malaysian children."It is one of the niche fields which will be offered, namely, a specific service to identify genetic diseases which are difficult to detect in children and we will compare them with diseases which often occur abroad.
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"HKK Permata will have comprehensive data on genetic diseases which often occur among children in Malaysia," he told reporters here, Wednesday.He said this after a plenary session titled 'Personalised and Precision Medical Care for Children' at the 2016 Permata International Conference at the Putra World Trade Centre here.Dr A. Rahman said the genetic diseases which often took place among Malaysian children were different from those afflicting Caucasian children."The difference between Caucasian and Malay genetics is one per cent, namely, it is the same in terms of functioning genes, the only difference is in terms of details of gene sequence.
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"There is also a difference in terms of diseases, some types of cancer occur more often among Caucasians but rarely happen in Malaysia. The difference prompts us to study our population," he said.In the meantime, he said HKK Permata would offer bone marrow transfer service to help treat thalassemia and leukemia patients.
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"We will also offer our expertise in keyhole surgery and minimally invasive surgery which would enable a faster recovery of the children concerned," he said.He also said HKK Permata which is set to be the best in Asia would have a children's development centre which would also be capable to detect Autism at an early stage. Meanwhile, what began as a dream in wanting to give back to the community, lead two young women to embark on a passionate journey to give free English language classes to underpriviledged teenagers in urban area.Known as Permata Interact, the project which is an initiative under the Permata Perkasa Remaja Programme, focuses on empowering youth through better English language literacy.Project founders Nooryana Najwa Najib and Wan Izzana Fatimah Zabedah Salleh said they had been considering the idea since studying together overseas."When we returned, we wanted to make a meaningful difference to the community. We asked the young people what they wanted to learn and the majority said they wanted to learn the English language," they told reporters after presenting the programme in a workshop to the delegates.Nooryana Najwa, who is the eldest child of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, said as the international language, one needed to learn English to be a global player."We are happy to be able to help them improve their communication skills in English, so that they too, can have more opportunities at their disposal," she added.Rosmah, who is Permata patron was also present at the workshop.Meanwhile, Wan Izzana Fatimah Zabedah said the project which started with 20 students in 2014, now had 60 students under its tutelage at the Permata centre in Pantai Dalam and Desa Rejang here.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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