KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health (MOH) is ready to provide specialist assistance, if necessary, to former race walking champion G. Saravanan, who is stricken with motor neurone disease (MND).
Its Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said this is because Saravanan, who won the men’s 50-kilometre (km) walk gold medal at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, is a sports icon who deserves attention.
“If there is a need, we will provide the appropriate response. That is why it’s important for us to pay attention to sports figures who are going through the ageing process so that they remain healthy,” he told reporters after officiating the launch of the Malaysian Sports Medicine Symposium 2025 at Universiti Malaya here today.
“Dzulkefly also praised the concern shown by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who offered a contribution and moral support to Saravanan yesterday.
“Under the leadership of PMX (Anwar), I know that he is a very caring person and this is a reflection of the MADANI government. We at the MOH are also ready to assist,” he said.
Yesterday, the political secretary to the PM, Datuk Ahmad Farhan Fauzi, presented the donation to the 54-year-old Saravanan, who is undergoing treatment at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (PPUM).
Saravanan, the last Malaysian athlete to win a Commonwealth Games athletics gold medal, was diagnosed with MND in 2021 - a disease that causes muscle weakness and for which there is still no cure.
Meanwhile, Dr Dzulkefly said the Pre-Hospital Care Bill - to protect members of the public who assist in emergencies, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), from legal repercussions - is expected to be tabled in Parliament in the fourth quarter of next year.
He added that the ministry’s initiative is being scrutinised by MOH’s Medical Development Division and Legal Advisor’s Office.
“I discussed it again during the previous post-Cabinet meeting, the MOH legal advisors are scrutinising it and, because there are many Bills for this year, perhaps next year we can do it.
“In terms of urgency, it is something that is pressing, but I want it because when we have put in place a policy, to expand the use of AEDs nationwide, then we must protect the public. When they step forward to perform CPR or whatever assistance as the first responder, it’s very important,” he said.
