PUTRAJAYA: A ban on open system vape devices is “almost there”, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
“There are still challenges towards this, but we hope to implement this. There are many compounding factors at play here,” said the Health Minister who confirmed that the ban on vapes will be done in stages, beginning with the open system.
“We also have our team of experts here to work towards this,” he said in his speech when delivering his New Year’s address to ministry staff here yesterday.
An open system vape refers to a refillable device where users manually fill a tank with their own e-liquid.
He said curbing the open system vape will be the first step, owing to its misuse where synthetic drugs have found their way into the product.
Dzulkefly has been vocal about his position when it comes to banning vape products in Malaysia, where he was also previously reported as saying that it was being targeted for the middle of this year.
On another matter, he said the ministry is looking at permanent positions for some 4,500 medical officers and 935 nurses this year.
An integrated human resources dashboard is also being considered to give a comprehensive view on the workforce across all the ministry’s facilities.
“This allows us to make decisions based on supply, maldistribution as well as attrition and retention,” he said.
According to the minister, the Rakan KKM initiative is also set to receive its first patient in the first quarter this year, after it was initially scheduled to be launched late last year.
“The Rakan KKM initiative will begin at the Cyberjaya hospital before being expanded to others.
“The latest should be March as I have been made to understand.
“We are almost there and everyone is working hard towards this,” he added.
Dzulkefly further stressed that the digitisation of the public healthcare system will continue to be prioritised this year with further rollouts planned for the Total Hospital Information System (THIS) and Cloud-Based Clinic Management System (CCMS).
He said the THIS will be expanded to 16 hospitals while CCMS is set to be expanded to 2,489 primary healthcare facilities.
The Dental Information System is also set to be expanded to 157 dental clinics.
“We need to put an end to manual procedures and papers,” he said.
