Kuala lumpur: Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial (PERKESO) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to forge a strategic partnership that will see the two parties cooperate and provide rehabilitation services to those insured under PERKESO.
The MOU was signed by UPM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mohd Roslan Sulaiman and PERKESO chief executive Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed at Hospital Pengajar Universiti Putra Malaysia (HPUPM) on Feb 25, witnessed by HPUPM director Prof Madya Dr Muhammad Mohd Isa and PERKESO Tun Razak Rehabilitation Centre executive director Datuk Dr Hafez Hussain.
Dr Mohammed Azman said, “As the leader in social security in Malaysia, PERKESO is always committed to improving its services for the social wellbeing of the nation’s workforce. This is done in a number of ways, including through strategic cooperation with various parties including public and private institutions of higher learning in the country.”
The strategic cooperation between PERKESO and UPM, according to Dr Mohammed Azman, has already started in 2021 through a pilot project called the Early Stroke Disability Prevention Programme.
Advocating early detection and treatment, this programme is aimed at providing early treatment to workers who suffered from stroke within the first 24 hours after the attack, with thrombolysis and thrombectomy used as the methods to remove clotted blood from the patient’s bloodstream, followed by intensive rehabilitation treatment.
“Rehabilitation is one branch of the medical field that stresses the importance of client-centred service and is very much needed today in healthcare services worldwide, as advancements in the medical field lead to high survival rates despite chronic diseases or impaired limb functions.
“In addition, the field of rehabilitation medicine provides holistic services through assessment, diagnosis, prevention, rehabilitation treatment including clinical interventions, integration into the patient’s environment such as home, school, workplace, community and continuous follow-up assessments,” shared Prof Dr Mohd Roslan.
Early treatment can help prevent the risk of physical and mental disabilities that can affect patients who suffer from a stroke, in addition to improving the recovery of patients, which in turn enables them to go back to work sooner.
A total of 50 eligible PERKESO contributors will be identified under this pilot project, which will be overseen by PERKESO, HPUPM as well as several hospitals under the Ministry of Health, including Hospital Kajang, Hospital Serdang dan Hospital Putrajaya.
Apart from this programme, PERKESO and HPUPM will cooperate to prepare facilities and rehabilitation treatment services to those insured under PERKESO who are referred to HPUPM.
“This effort will help expand PERKESO’s rehabilitation services through our Rehabilitation Centre, which has proven to be very effective, advanced and of quality not only to PERKESO contributors who have undergone such mishaps, but also the members of society who require these rehabilitation treatments.
“We believe that the treatment given can help speed up the recovery process for patients, thus enabling them to go back to work and sustain their families. This strategy also aligns with the aim of PERKESO’s Return to Work (RTW) programme, which stresses the concept of early intervention and intensive rehabilitation,” said Dr Mohammed Azman.
The MOU will also act as a catalyst for the efforts of both organisations to improve the service delivery in their respective fields, as it encapsulates cooperation across the medical field, rehabilitation treatment, neurological intervention, neuro-robotic and mental health, related health skills, vocational training, safety and health, disability management, labour market, aquaculture, agriculture, as well as PERKESO’s RTW programme, among others.
In addition, both organisations will also execute the joint marketing efforts on their respective portals that highlight the information and activities organised under the scope of the cooperation.
Prof Dr Mohd Roslan added, “The comprehensive scope of this cooperation will have a significant impact, especially in overcoming the main problem of healthcare, namely the cost of treatment for patients.”
