Now Reading
Health Ministry To Form Rapid Deployment Unit As A Way To Tackle Future Outbreaks

Health Ministry To Form Rapid Deployment Unit As A Way To Tackle Future Outbreaks

Khairy Jamaluddin said in Parliament that Tawau is also getting a field hospital and Sabah received some 480 oxygen cylinders and 46 regulators recently.

Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest stories and updates.


The Health Ministry is looking to set up a Rapid Deployment Unit to states which might experience a spike of Covid-19 cases, according to Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said in Parliament that based on what happened in Sabah, the government has taken precautionary measures to prevent future outbreaks from getting worse.

He added that the Ministry will make sure that the issue in which there is no bed with adequate oxygen facilities, as what happened a few months ago, is not repeated.

Tawau gets a field hospital

Tawau will be getting a field hospital that will fit around 100 beds to handle the cases around the East Coast, said Khairy, answering a question asked by Semporna MP Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal on what MOH is doing to tackle Covid-19 in Sabah.

I myself have visited a hospital in Tawau, and we have identified the site for the construction of a field hospital – maybe 100 beds which we will also make sure that there are enough oxygen facilities in the area for the East Coast of Tawau.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

Khairy also mentioned that the Ministry of Health Malaysia has sent 480 oxygen cylinders and 48 oxygen regulators to Sabah to meet the urgent need for the time being.

However, I understand that this issue during the surge of cases in Sabah, there are less beds and also less beds with oxygen equipment. That is why we have sent such additional supplies.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

Government wants to boost bed capacity

The Malaysian Ministry of Health is targeting a ratio of 2.08 hospital beds to 1,000 residents by the end of the 12th Malaysia Plan.

In 2020, the final year of the 11th Malaysia Plan, the ratio achieved was 2.01 as the number of beds had increased from 55,952 beds in 2016 to 65,508 beds in 2020.

To achieve the set targets, the Ministry of Health Malaysia continues to take initiatives to increase the number of beds through the construction of new hospitals and upgrading of existing hospitals and facilities.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

He mentioned that the focus will be on areas where existing hospitals have high bed utilization rates and other factors are also taken into account such population density, access to services in existing hospitals and government allocation.

In addition to increasing the number of beds in MOH hospitals and facilities, the Ministry also uses the approach to optimize the number of existing beds through day care services in major hospitals to reduce the need for inpatient beds and the implementation of cluster hospital programs where specialist services are expanded to hospitals without specialists who have low bed rates.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Get more stories like this to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.

© 2024 The Rakyat Post. All Rights Reserved. Owned by 3rd Wave Media Sdn Bhd