KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry (MOH) aims to have 900 health clinics nationwide providing virtual consultation services by the end of this year.
In a written reply uploaded to the Parliament’s website, MOH said these consultation services include follow-up treatments for both communicable and non-communicable diseases, antenatal care, family planning, and other primary healthcare services.
As of July this year, some 387 out of 1,093 health clinics nationwide have already offered virtual consultations.
“The expansion of these services aims to increase the delivery of remote healthcare services, especially to rural residents, via mobile phones.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that this approach can help healthcare workers provide optimal and continuous care to patients,” it said in response to a question from Senator Prof Tan Sri Dr Mohamed Haniffa Abdullah regarding measures taken to ensure the public can access and benefit from the latest medical technology.
MOH further said that the MySejahtera application is now the ministry’s Digital Health Front Door, which is the main platform for accessing public health services based on the Digital Health Intervention (DHI) framework.
The application offers services such as On-Demand health services, fast delivery of health information and education, individual healthcare and support, reporting, and community engagement.
“This digital health application can provide significant convenience to people, particularly those facing challenges in accessing healthcare services due to physical or geographical factors,” it said.
Meanwhile, MOH said it inspected 8,373 out of the total of 11,648 school canteens and dormitory kitchens from January to June to ensure compliance with the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009.
“Of that number, 52 canteens and school dormitory kitchens were closed under Section 11, Food Act 1983 compared to 124 (throughout 2023),” the ministry said in response to a question from Senator Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof who wanted to know the approach taken to prevent cases of food poisoning in school canteens.
