KUCHING: The Ministry of Health (MOH) visioned that Sabah and Sarawak will reach 100 per cent access to safe surgical and anaesthesia care by 2030.
According to its minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa, access to safe surgical and anaesthesia care in the two Borneo states is now at 75 per cent due to their vast areas, challenging land topography, land transport network, and scattered population.
“We hope by 2030 we can achieve the target, and this can be done with the future MOH’s planning for continuous, regular training of medical officers and the placement of more surgical and anaesthesia specialists in identified hospitals in these two states.
“Furthermore, the placement of surgeons and anaesthesiologists in hospitals with difficulties in access, such as Kapit and Limbang, has improved access to surgical and anaesthesia care for the people in these divisions,” she said when officiating at the 1st Global Surgery Conference: The New Dawn at the Waterfront Hotel today (Mar 19).
Elaborating, Dr Zaliha said that in a recent study published in the ANZ Journal of Surgery 94 per cent of the population in Malaysia has access to bellwether procedures such as laparotomies, Caesarean sections, and the treatment of open fractures within two hours.
“Despite that, Malaysia’s capacity compares well with other countries within the World Health Organisation’s Western Pacific Region,” she said.
She added that although the capability of medical officers (MO) to perform basic or emergency surgeries in district hospitals, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, was established in the 1970s, the absence of a formal training structure made it challenging to ensure the sustainability of these services, especially with a high turnover rate of MO serving the rural areas, which caused an absolute halt to surgical services offered in the rural centres.
“Having said that, the MOH’s determination to provide surgical and anaesthesia services to the population has led our healthcare providers to develop many solutions,” she said.
The anaesthetic medical assistant services, she said, are also unique to these two states in the country.
“The anaesthetic medical assistants are district hospital experts for emergency resuscitation and intubation. They have established indispensable anaesthesia service providers in hospitals,” she pointed out.
Dr Zaliha also said that since the concept of global surgery was introduced, it has made tremendous progress in Borneo, particularly since the pandemic.
“More healthcare workers are aware of the concept and committed to contributing as a result of the commitment from both administrative and clinical stakeholders through regular visits to all hospitals.
“While operating theatres have reopened and cases previously referred to specialised hospitals for surgery are now handled only at the district level, district hospital medical officers participate in training under a more structured curriculum,” she said, adding that close monitoring at the administrative level helps ensure the programme’s implementation is in place.
She pointed out that numerous strategies and innovations have been implemented over the past years to improve access to healthcare services, including the provision of surgical care.
“Being the main healthcare provider in Malaysia, the MOH boasts 148 healthcare facilities throughout the country, comprising 41 major specialist hospitals, 27 minor specialist hospitals, 74 non-specialist hospitals, and six special institutions,” noted the minister.
