THE Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) categorically denied any links to the Black Flag campaign and urged the public not to get confused over the matter.
“It has come to our attention that certain quarters have started a Black Flag campaign and we are concerned that this new development may cause confusion.
“MMA clearly states that we only support the Code Black and Black Monday campaigns, which are also part of our initiative to champion the plight of contract medical officers (MOs),” its president Prof Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy said, in a statement.
On July 1, contract MOs took to Twitter to trend #CodeBlackMY, raising awareness of their plight in not getting permanent posts despite serving since 2016.
The MOs also threatened to launch a physical strike on July 26, if the Government still dragged its feet on their concerns.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba reassured them by saying their concerns will be addressed by the Cabinet soon.
The Black Flag campaign, however, was different as it was mooted to force Prime Minister Tan Sri Mahiaddin Yassin’s resignation for his apparent failure in containing COVID-19 and rejuvenating the slugging economy.
On that note, Subramaniam said that his team was working closely with the authorities to address contract MOs issue but stressed he would not condone any strike by healthcare professionals, especially during the pandemic crisis.
He added that MMA’s Code Black from July 1st to 12, and Black Monday on July 12, are campaigns to only encourage the people to show support for the contract doctors by:
- Changing their personal profile picture /company or institution logo to black or monochrome.
- Visit the MMA SCHOMOS Facebook page for latest information regarding contract MOs and help increase awareness on the issues.
- Wearing black attire to work on July 12 in a show of solidarity with contract MOs.
- Share pictures of oneself holding a placard saying “We stand with contract healthcare workers” with the hashtags #saveMYcontractHCW #BlackMondayMY #CodeBlackMY
On why they were going black, Subramaniam said it was a way to “mourn” medical talents who have left the country for greener pastures.
“It is also to recognise the suffering of contract MOs in Malaysia. There are 23,077 of them since 2016 but only 789 have been given permanent posts in our public healthcare sector.
“Plus, Code Black is also our emergency code at hospitals, denoting a threat to our healthcare personnel,” he explained. – July 4, 2021.
