BY LOH FOON FONG
PETALING JAYA: Rural and remote areas will have better access to medical specialists under the 11th Malaysia Plan.
Under the Improving 'Wellbeing for All' focus area, support for underserved communities would be enhanced as part of the Government's efforts to achieve universal access to quality healthcare.
Measures will include the deployment of more specialists and skilled personnel, the establishment of additional healthcare facilities in the areas of greatest need, and the expansion of outreach programmes such as mobile healthcare teams, flying doctor services, and village health promoters will be expanded to remote areas.
Domiciliary healthcare programmes will be expanded to include care programmes for patients who require long-term nursing upon early discharge, such as stroke patients.
Healthcare personnel will train family members and caregivers to care for these patients. NGOs will also be encouraged to participate and provide support and services to the patients and their families.
The Government will also implement the hospital cluster concept in selected locations, where hospitals within the same geographical location will work as one unit, sharing resources such as assets, amenities, and human resource.
The Government will implement the eHealth strategy, which incorporates existing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems into one, system-wide model to enhance health data management, and support research, development and commercialisation (R&D&C) initiatives.
A new focus area on enhancing road safety and emergency services will also be introduced as road accident fatalities remain high and increased from 6,877 fatalities in 2011 to 6,915 in 2013.
Driver negligence has been identified as the main cause of road accidents followed by road conditions and vehicle safety.
The Government aims to reduce the road fatalities index from 2.9 per 10,000 registered vehicles in 2013 to 2.0
by 2020 through the wider implementation of the Automated Enforcement System (AES) and the review of the Road Traffic Offences System (Kejara), which imposes heavier penalties on errant drivers.
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