Sabah frontliners embrace the M’sia Prihatin spirit
Published on: Monday, September 13, 2021
By: Bernama
.jpg "Sabah frontliners embrace the M’sia Prihatin spirit")
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah has once again been given the honour to host the annual Malaysia Day celebration on Sept 16. In conjunction with the historic event, Bernama will release a two-part feature focusing on the caring nature and spirit of togetherness, which have been Sabah’s pillars of strength in the fight against Covid-19, in line with the theme of this year’s Malaysia Day celebration, Malaysia Prihatin (Malaysia Cares).This is the last of a two-part feature.
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Patients may not realise it, but hospital pharmacists working behind the scenes during the Covid-19 pandemic are among the unsung healthcare heroes who make essential contributions to the delivery of care.
For Kinabatangan District Hospital pharmacist Thiam Kah Kit, a more challenging and arduous task awaits him as he embarks on a mission to the far-flung areas of Sabah, including security zones under the purview of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM).
Not many people know him, but Thiam is among the unsung heroes in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in Sabah. Thiam, along with other frontliners have played a crucial role in keeping hospital services going, and for these, they should be rightfully acknowledged and appreciated.
This writer only knew him through a photo given by a colleague. Thiam in the photo was carrying a large thermal shipper called “cool box” containing Covid-19 vaccines.
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What caught this writer’s attention was his calm yet cheerful disposition despite being flanked by two armed ESSCOM personnel.
They were part of a Mobile Covid Vaccination team under the Vaccination Outreach Programme to bring Covid-19 vaccines to the rural areas along the 560km Kinabatangan River, Sabah’s longest river. Getting into the interior requires travelling by boat.
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Interestingly, Thiam and his team of frontliners showed enthusiasm in carrying out the task of bringing the Covid-19 vaccines to the people so that they will be protected against the deadly coronavirus.
The story of Thiam and the ESSCOM team reflects the immeasurable contributions of the state’s healthcare frontiners, who embrace the spirit of Malaysia Prihatin and stand united in the race to save lives since the start of the pandemic.
Regardless of who they are, healthcare workers or security personnel, the spirit of Malaysia Prihatin has actually been embedded in their souls.
Upholding the pledge
This writer had the opportunity to share Thiam’s story as well as other security team with Sabah Health Director, Dr Rose Nani Mudin during a recent interview with Bernama.
The story brought smiles to the infectious disease expert.
Dr Rose Nani, who hails from Papar, Sabah told Bernama that every healthcare worker has upheld the pledge of service to ensure the health of the people is protected and stand united in facing the various challenges in his or her line of duty.
For Dr Rose Nani who was appointed to the post on July 13, the challenges that she has to endure while serving remote areas are not new as she has previously served the Orang Asli community in Pos Lenjang in the remote areas of Pahang in the 90’s.
“Serving Sabah has its own challenges. Besides the rough and challenging journey to the remote areas, the lack of basic amenities and infrastructure are obstacles to providing the best healthcare services to the rural areas.
Roads are not easily accessible to these areas as we had to take the routes used by timber haulage operators.
“But we have not given up hope in giving our best and making sure that the people are safe.
The Covid-19 pandemic has taken us to far-flung areas especially in ensuring that the rural population is protected through vaccine rollouts”, she told Bernama.
To realise the objective of ensuring the Sabah people’s health is protected, she is fortunate to receive the strong support from her team of frontliners who have been working tirelessly in curbing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The principle of esprit de corps has been inculcated among the people in Sabah. We cannot be working alone given the unprecedented challenges brought on by the pandemic,” she stressed.
Dynamic strategy
According to Dr Rose Nani, the spirit of togetherness and caring spirit of healthcare workers are crucial and must be mobilised together and propelled by a dynamic strategy to keep the people safe from the coronavirus.
She said a long-term strategy, when implemented without any changes, would not yield optimum results in combating the deadly virus.
Citing an example, she said that the the spread of infectious diseases has its own characteristics.
While Covid-19 is spread between people who are in close contact with one another, vectorborne diseases such as dengue and malaria are transmitted to humans via mosquito bites.
“As such, prevention and control of the coronavirus reinforces the need for a different approach in its implementation.
Tough measures are not good enough as we need to be sensitive to the needs of the local community and the current situation.
A dynamic strategy with the flexibility of incorporating changes based on needs, is crucial,” she added.
She said that all programmes currently being carried out should be assessed from time to time to ensure its effectiveness, with improvements to be introduced later based on their suitability to ensure the healthcare tasks can be optimised.
However, Dr Rose Nani reminded healthcare workers in the state to protect themselves while serving the people by complying with all standard operating procedures (SOPs), and more importantly, they should have enough rest.
“They should take care of their health too, not only physically but also mentally.
Those who are experiencing fatigue or mentally exhausted, they can immediately seek assistance from any relevant officer and they can inform me immediately before their conditions worsen,” she said.
Teamwork, she stressed, is vital in ensuring the health and welfare of healthcare workers are taken care of, and if anyone is tired or falls sick, other team members can immediately help out.
‘We in Sabah face the Covid-19 pandemic together. While the healthcare workers and frontliners are in the battleground in the fight against the pandemic, members of the public should also play their role by ensuring SOPs are observed and getting their Covid-19 jabs immediately,” she said.
Immediate vaccination
Sabah has recently ramped up its vaccination drive with the hope of vaccinating 60 per cent of its adult population receive their vaccines by end of September and achieve 80 per cent herd immunity by next month.
At present, more than 45 per cent of the adult population in the state have been vaccinated, she said.
However, Dr Rose Nani and her healthcare staff are not willing to wait till next month to achieve the herd immunity goal, noting that efforts are being intensified to reach the target earlier.
“Various programmes and mechanisms have been implemented at various vaccine distribution centres (PPV) and through the vaccine outreach programme in the rural areas.
We already have the mechanism and machinery but what is needed now is adequate vaccine supply to protect the people from Covid-19,” she said.
This writer also interviewed a medical officer from the Sipitang District Health Office, Dr Siti Musfirah Jahri at the Kampung Long Pasia, Sipitang vaccination programme recently who shared her experience and challenges when administering vaccines in the remote areas of Sabah.
Dr Siti Musfirah who also hails from Papar said she and her team faced the challenges of people who were afraid of vaccines, but she was quick to praise local folks who personally turned up during the vaccination programme, asking directly questions about the vaccine from the healthcare workers on duty.
According to her, her team undertook awareness campaigns to explain to the people in the local dialects, which were easily understood by the Lundayeh community on the importance of vaccine and tried to allay their fears on the vaccination process.
“Other than that, false news also posed challenges. But efforts by the local folks in explaining to other members of the community on the vaccine and the deadly Covid-19, is commendable,” she said when met at the Army Combat Medic Vaccination Programme (ACMVP)’s Jiwa Murni outreach initiative at the kampung.
Dr Siti Musfirah said as a Sabahan, she is extremely proud to help protect the people especially in the far-flung areas of the Land Below the Wind against the virus and is satisfied with the assistance and cooperation received from the local folks.
Responsibility of all
The ACMVP’s Jiwa Murni programme saw the participation of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), and according to the Commander of the Malaysian Fifth Infantry Division, Mej Jen Datuk Mohd Halim Khalid, in this respect, all quarters, especially frontliners should work hand in hand in exercising their responsibility.
According to him, there is a general perception among the people that the responsibility of protecting their safety lies with the ATM.
However, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, ATM has mobilised its machinery in keeping the people safe from the virus by joining forces with other relevant agencies especially the Ministry of Health.
He said that through the programme, two teams comprising medical officers and military personnel as well as staff from other agencies have been deployed to administer vaccines in the remote areas in Sabah, which are not easily accessible.
“This programme is important as it helps to achieve the herd immunity goal of the government, that is 80 per cent of the people to be vaccinated.
We are also happy to work together with other agencies in achieving the immunisation mission for the people,” he added.
Kampung Long Pasia, located about 300km from Kota Kinabalu, has about 700 residents, the majority of whom are from the Lundayeh ethnic group and their main economic activities are agriculture and eco-tourism. It is located at 1,000 metres above sea level on the Malingan Highlands.
According to Mohd Halim, 500 Covid-19 vaccine doses were transported by land (250 doses) via lorries and four-wheel drives while Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) helicopters were also deployed to transport the vaccine (250 doses).Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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