KUCHING: The Sarawak Health Department is calling for caution after confirming that Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is endemic in the state. Its director Dr Jamilah Hashim said as a result of the confirmation, department officers are conducting a survey on children aged 15 years old and below for JE vaccination. “The Health Department is currently taking…
THERE are major and pressing issues within the Health Ministry (MOH) that need to be addressed, among them the dwindling budget allocation for health (2% of GDP in the public sector), shortage of hospital beds, lack of synergy between the ministry and the private healthcare sector, incessant complaints from junior doctors due to a “toxic…
Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto for GE14 promised to provide compulsory pneumococcal vaccination to all children below two years old under the National Immunisation Programme (NIP). For paediatricians who have been fighting for this since 2005, the goal finally seems to be within reach. Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin, consultant paediatrician and neonatologist, explains how the value…
Parents can play a big role in their children’s digital life, writes Balqis Lim Digital media has also allowed children to be in constant contact with their friends. CHILDREN today are growing up with technology, such as smartphones, tablets and gaming devices. In this era of digital technology, children are missing out on a whole…
YOUNG children, especially those under five years of age, are “fragile” and vulnerable to many risks. In recent years, we have become increasingly aware that some small children die as a result of suffocation while sleeping with their parents. This is a tragic event and one that can be easily prevented. As parents need to…
When a patient dies under a doctor’s care, the doctor has to be held accountable. But what if that doctor was overworked, her department was understaffed and the computer system had broken down? This is what happened to Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba in 2011, when a six-year-old boy, Jack Adcock, died under her care in Leicester…
