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More geriatricians needed in <b>Sabah</b> - The Borneo Post Online Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

More geriatricians needed in <b>Sabah</b> - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 15 Dec 2013 03:57 PM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Unlike more established specialization like cardiology, geriatric medicine is still considered very new in Malaysia and in Sabah.

So in order to create awareness and to educate the public about what geriatrics is all about, the Geriatric Unit of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) held an open day at the Karamunsing Complex here yesterday.

According to the unit's head, Dr Richard Ng, the main purpose of the Geriatric Unit is to provide comprehensive care to all the elderly folk of Sabah.

Speaking to the media, Dr Richard pointed out that a lot of people, including healthcare professionals, do not know what geriatric is.

"Geriatric Medicine is a branch of medicine that specializes in the care of the elderly. As a geriatrician, I identify and treat various illnesses and geriatric issues that are prevalent in the elderly with the ultimate goal of optimizing the quality of life for the elderly in the hope that they will remain functional in society for as long as possible.

"And not forgetting health promotion and prevention is also an integral part of geriatric medicine," Dr Richard, who is the first geriatrician in Sabah, said.

Dr Richard, who is one of the 19 geriatricians in Malaysia disclosed that the Geriatric Unit in QEH officially started in March 2012. Now, it has a dedicated team of healthcare professionals, including trained staff nurses, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, dietician, pharmacist and social workers. They all work as a team to provide a holistic care in meeting the very special needs of the elderly.

Currently in QEH, the unit has a subacute/stepdown ward where it can provide rehabilitation services and do a proper comprehensive assessment of their elderly patients, he said.

"Ideally, I would like to be able to assess all the elderly folks in Sabah because there are some issues such as confusion and depression that are overlooked by other health practitioners. But as we are very short-handed and bearing in mind that I am the only geriatrician in Sabah, we are now only assessing patients which have already been admitted to QEH," Dr Richard said.

He added that the Geriatrics Unit also makes home visit to certain patients and it also has an outpatient service which consists a general geriatrics clinic, memory clinics and falls clinic which assesses if an elderly patient has a high risk of falling.

The falls clinic also treats the elderly who have injuries caused by them falling down, he said, adding that 65 is the age a person should go for a general geriatrics assessment if they do not lead an active and healthy lifestyle.

"It is my role as the first geriatrician in the state to actively expose the word 'geriatrics' and educate people on what it is all about. This year our Geriatric Unit organized a Caregiver Training Day to educate caregivers on the basics of caring for the elderly.

"In addition, we also successfully organized the first Sabah Geriatrics Conference in October to educate health care professionals on the various aspects of geriatrics. It is my hope that more heathcare professionals will be interested in pursuing geriatrics as a career," he said.

Meanwhile, QEH director Dr Heric Corray said that the hospital has extended its geriatric service to the Kuala Penyu Hospital. Beaufort Hospital will have the service soon.

"We would like to expand to other districts in the east coast but are unable to do it yet because we only have one geriatrician based in QEH and the proximity to the hospitals in Kuala Penyu and Beaufort is nearer," he said.

Dr Corray disclosed that QEH currently has another geriatrician under training in Singapore who is expected to be back in Sabah next year.

His sentiments about needing more geriatricians was echoed by QEH's head of medical department, Datuk Dr Jayaram Menon, who opined that it is time for Malaysia to accept the fact that there is a need for more expertise in geriatrics medicine.

"We have made progress in Sabah… it has started slowly but surely," Dr Jayaram stressed.

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RM294 mln help for <b>Sabah</b>, Sarawak smallholders – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 16 Dec 2013 10:28 AM PST

by Mariah Doksil. Posted on December 17, 2013, Tuesday

KOTA KINABALU: The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) has allocated RM294 million for smallholders in Sabah and Sarawak for 2014 to replant and plant new oil palms involving 35,000 hectares of land under the government's National Key Economic Area (NKEA).

Its minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said 5,000 hectares would be in Sabah while another 30,000 hectares would be in Sarawak.

"The government will continue its effort to encourage more smallholders to replant and plant new oil palms. Under this programme, MPIC will provide assistance of RM9, 000 per hectare to cover costs, seedlings, clearing, and also for fertilizers.

"We are also looking at the other challenges in the oil palm industry, such as issues in fertilizers, mills and also the dependence on foreign workers," he said to reporters after launching the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Complex at Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP), yesterday.

With the setting up of the complex, Embas said the ministry was hoping it would help the industry move towards good agriculture practice.

Realizing the importance of competitive human capital in order to carry the national transformation programme, Embas said the ministry had also set up Institute of Malaysian Plantation and Commodities (IMPAC) in 2010.

The institute is responsible for implementing courses under the ministry.

During the event, a total of 230 IMPAC graduates from Sabah received their diplomas and certificates after successfully graduating from various programmes under IMPAC.

"MPOB has built Pusat Latihan Industri Sawit (PLASMA) Lahad Datu at a cost of RM5 million, and a hostel costing RM9 million. Another PLASMA has been set up in Keratong Pahang, with a total cost of RM35,030,351.

"Since 2000, MPOB has trained 15,000, while about 105 companies have benefited from the programmes organized by MPOB," he added.

Earlier in his speech, Embas said the industry had contributed RM73.3 billion to Malaysia's export earnings from the 5.08 million hectares of oil palm plantations.

Sabah, he said, had the largest plantation in Malaysia with 1.46 million hectares, where 12.8 per cent of the total plantations were being cultivated by smallholders.

The newly launched MPOB Complex, costing RM4.6 million, would be an information centre for industry players seeking more information or the latest developments in the industry, he said/

Also present at the event yesterday were MPOB chairman Datuk Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, Minister of Community Development and Consumer Affairs Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid, Deputy Minister of MPIC Datuk Noriah Kasnon, Assistant Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Bolkiah Ismail and director general of MPOB Datuk Choo Yuen May.

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<b>Sabah</b> People&#39;s Rights Association formed - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 15 Dec 2013 03:59 PM PST

KOTA KINABALU: The newly formed Persatuan Hak Asasi Rakyat Sabah (Sabah People's Rights Association) has started work immediately following the first election of its exco committee on December 12.

Its chairman, Lee Pun Yee, said the association had submitted complaints of poor management service in Mesra Apartments to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing and also arranged a dialogue with the residents.

"The association has received complaints from the residents of Mesra Apartment regarding the poor management services such as security, auto gate and visitors registration problems besides the strata titles status, which are the basic rights of the residents.

"The association deputy chairman, Teddy Yang, and I have been working with the residents of this apartment complex and we are curious why the management company cannot even fulfill the basic rights of the residents," he said in a press statement.

Lee, who is also one of the residents at the apartment, said they have the rights to complain and take further action in the event the management is not carrying out their duties.

Meanwhile, Lee added that the main objective of the newly formed NGO is to be the platform of communication between the government authority and the people, provide guidance to the people on their rights as citizens and also to ensure that government information is passed down to the grassroots.

He said these three resolutions were raised during the meeting.

"Firstly, we urge the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to fully enforce the rules on poor performing housing management agencies and make necessary amendment to the existing rules to ensure good living environment of house buyers.

"Secondly, we want the authority to resolve the matter on foreign workers and illegal immigrants as they are the roots of all security problems and social illness.

"Thirdly, we resolve to fight for the abolishment of cabotage policy," he declared.

The members of the exco committee of Persatuan Hak Asasi Rakyat Sabah are Edward Ewon Mujie (vice chairman), Dr Joseph Lee (vice chairman), Lorena Binison (secretary), Christina Yong (assistant secretary) and Patricia Yong (treasurer). The committee members are Nicholas Hsu, Alex Hiew, Olivia Chin, Lee Fun Chee, Kelly Bajaral, Jaiz Robert and Richard Wong.

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193 <b>Sabah</b> premises yet to have fire cert - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:48 PM PST

by Rebecca Chong. Posted on December 15, 2013, Sunday

SANDAKAN: The State Fire and Rescue Department is taking the friendly approach to encourage more premises owners to apply for a fire certificate (FC) for their buildings in Sabah.

The department's director, Nordin Pauzi, said that it is against the law for identified premises of nine fixed categories not to have a FC for their premises, a requirement under Section 33 of Fire Services Act 1988.

Those who do not comply faces the risk of punishment of up to three years imprisonment and be liable for up to RM5,000 in fines. To date, he said, there are four court cases relating to premises owners not having a FC.

However, Nordin stated, he does not want owners of premises to get a FC just for the sake of complying with the law, but he wants to target people to apply for a FC more for their awareness on the importance of fire safety.

"In order for us to spread awareness on how vital fire safety is to a premises, we organize seminars such as this," he said during a press conference after officiating a Fire Certificate Seminar at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel here, yesterday.

The Fire Certificate Seminar was attended by over 300 people from all over the east coast of Sabah who are interested in getting a FC or to get to know premises' fire safety better, including premises' owners, architects, and engineers.

The seminar aims to share information on fire safety procedures and fire hazards identification techniques that could be of benefit to FC practitioners from all over the State.

Nordin later revealed statistics showing that there are 474 premises in Sabah that have been identified under the nine categories which must possess a FC, but only 281 have applied.

The nine categories of premises includes library, hospital and medical treatment centre, hotel, hostel and dormitory, office, shop lot, factory, assembly centre, and storage house.

He further explained that the Fire and Rescue Department does not only function to save people's lives and put out fire, but they also carry the responsibility to make the public aware of fire hazards.

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