‘Sabah, Sarawak to have full access to safe surgical, anaesthesia care by 2030’
Published on: Sunday, March 19, 2023
By: Bernama
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KUCHING: The Health Ministry (MOH) has envisioned for Sabah and Sarawak to reach 100 per cent access to safe surgical and anaesthesia care by 2030, said its minister, Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
She said among the challenges faced by the ministry to achieve the target are the lack of trained doctors, vast area, land topography and transport network, as well as the scattered population of the Borneo states.
“Now it is about 75 per cent (for Sabah and Sarawak), so we hope in a few years, we can actually expand more and better to reach 100 per cent,” she told a press conference after officiating at the 1st Global Surgery Conference Malaysia: The New Dawn here, today.
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Earlier in her speech, Dr Zaliha said the initiative would be realised with MOH’s plan of continuous regular training of medical officers and placement of more surgical and anaesthesia specialists in identified hospitals in both states.
She said according to a recent study published in the ANZ Journal of Surgery, 94 per cent of the Malaysian population have access to the Bellwether procedures such as laparotomy, Caesarean section and treatment of open fractures within two hours.
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The conference, which commenced today until March 21, aims to expand the global surgery initiative and create understanding among all stakeholders while serving as a platform for knowledge sharing to realise the initiative in Malaysia.
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