In session: Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad (right) replying to questions at the state assembly sitting in Ipoh. — Bernama
IPOH: People in Perak, especially the aged and those with mobility issues, won’t need to go to health clinics or hospitals to get their medication in the future.
Instead, the medicines will be delivered to their doorstep, said state health committee chairman A. Sivanesan.
“Patients will need to pay a minimal cost for the delivery. Discussions are still ongoing, but we will implement this,” he said when replying to Ong Boon Piow (DAP-Bercham) during the question-and-answer session at the Perak state assembly sitting here yesterday.
Sivanesan said some public hospitals already have drive-in services for patients to get their prescriptions.
“They wait in their car, call up the pharmacy and a staff member will deliver it to them,” he added.
Ong, in his supplementary question earlier, said there have been incidences when patients went home empty-handed from health clinics as medicine was out of stock.
He suggested these medicines be delivered to patients.
Sivanesan said the state Health Department would try to ensure its medicine supplies are sufficient.
“Procurement of medicines is always monitored to ensure stocks are at optimum level.
“However, there are still some supply disruptions when it comes to certain medicines,” he said.
He added that several steps have been taken to ensure patients receive continuous treatment.
Among them was prescribing two weeks’ worth of medicine instead of one month, and also giving out alternative medicines.
Sivanesan also said there has been a nationwide shortage of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines since last year.
“Feedback obtained from manufacturers was that this was due to several factors, which included disruptions at the global level due to high demand that was unexpected.
“Manufacturers are also having difficulty in getting pharmaceutical active items due to external factors, including the lockdown in China and the Russia-Ukraine War.
“There were also some challenges in logistics,” he added.
Sivanesan said last year, only 1,714 Form One female students in the state received the full vaccination, while the remaining 15,805 students from the same cohort have yet to get the vaccine.
“As for the 2022 cohort, only 114 Form One students completed their HPV vaccination, while 17,517 students have yet to receive the vaccine as at Dec 9,” he said.
He said the state had on Dec 6 received 7,860 doses of the HPV vaccine, which would be used as the first dose for those who missed it in 2021.
“The HPV vaccine will be administered by the school’s health team and through the district health office.
“For the remaining students from the 2021 and 2022 cohorts who have yet to get the vaccine this year, they will be given the inoculation when the state Health Department receives supplies from the Health Ministry,” he added.
