By Lim Kit Siang
PRIME Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should encourage all his ministers, in his bloated Cabinet, to watch Muntoh Fong’s video to understand the people’s disappointment and anger at the Government’s failure to care for the elderly during the pandemic crisis.
I watched Fong’s video and it is clear that there is no answer to his charges of the Government’s failure and irresponsibility in the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme (PICK).
Fong is the secretary of the Association for Residential Aged Care Operators of Malaysia and he posted a video on Facebook saying he was very worried about the future of nursing homes, with the rise of COVID-19 cases in these homes.
He urged the Government to show that it cares about the elderly, saying he was disappointed with the Health Ministry’s (MOH) failure to administer vaccines among elderly under care.
Fong was upset that many people, who were not in the at-risk groups, had already been vaccinated but not those at nursing homes.
He said nursing home operators were considered frontline workers but until now, there was no news on any vaccination plans.
Fong added the association had offered to help the MOH with vaccinations but was told they were not needed.
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He also accused MOH of having recalled between 200 and 300 nurses from nursing homes for emergency assistance in handling the pandemic.
This jeopardised nursing homes and right now over 30 out of 1,700 nursing homes have been infected by COVID-19. Thankfully, the death rates are low.
The coordinating minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, Khairy Jamaluddin, should act immediately to prove Fong wrong and reaffirm that the Government cares for the elderly in the nursing homes.
Khairy should also heed the warning of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) about a tsunami of COVID-19 cases and fatalities from nursing homes and aged care centres.
The MMA President, Dr M Subramaniam, had urged the Government to take proactive action to vaccinate the elderly who are staying in nursing homes and aged care centres to avoid a tsunami of cases from this category.
He warned that this is pertinent and relevant as the country is running out of intensive care unit (ICU) beds for COVID-19 cases.
The Government can engage private general practitioners (GPs) to provide vaccinations at these centres, in case the Government lacks the manpower to do so.
Subramaniam said that the demand for ICU hospitalisation can rapidly increase if older persons at nursing homes and aged care facilities (registered and unregistered) are infected with COVID-19.
Khairy should act immediately. – May 16, 2021.
Lim Kit Siang is the MP for Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
