Flu

I was reading the Borneo Post two days ago and was shocked and concerned to hear that the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) was unable to carry out tests on H1N1 virus from suspected patients. The SGH Director was quoted as saying that samples had to be sent to Kota Kinabalu(KK) Sabah before any confirmation could be given to a patient's fate on the H1N1. KK's Queen Elizabeth Hospital had to take 2-3 days to confirm and that would be the period the patients would have to wait in SGH. What was more shocking was the plight of a man who went to SGH and was then asked to go to two other places only to end up at SGH when he called the Borneo Post to complain.

The Swine Flu (as it was called then) started about four months ago with Mexico and US and later London having the pandemic. At that time Malaysia was on alert and the airports and other entry points were manned by groups of personnel from the health authorities. Some time they were so many at the airports and jammed the aerobridges. It was commendable as the precautionary efforts were for the safety and health of the members of the public though some passengers thought that it could have been better organised then for instance, having the forms filled before the planes landed.

Presently, we are in the heat of things. With one death in Miri and eight in the nation, Malaysia is facing what other countries now faced. But what are our preparedness to face this pandemic? After four months we are not having the facilities to test the virus in Kuching. And there are not enough facilities in the government or private institutions to handle cases. Are we losing a battle here? Why is Sarawak not being given the same treatment as KK for the labs and facilities to handle the pandemic?

With the adverse weather conditions now, people with acute respiratory cases would be more critical with the increase in incidence of patients suspected of contacting the so-called A virus. Some thing should be done now and a quick reorg among the relevant agencies is critical at this moment to prevent further deterioration of the problems and rebuild public confidence in the relevant departments and ministries in handling a crisis like this. We handled such crises successfully before, so what's lacking now?