Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Primary care is
and socially deprived, as it is these both the individual and the general
Comment places that tend to bear the brunt of practitioner by providing health-
by Dr Helmy Haja Mydin chronic disease epidemics. care vouchers to the former and
The general public needs to be financial remuneration to the
IT is common knowledge that life as educated so that they see primary latter; provided that they both take
a junior doctor in public hospitals is care as a resource to manage their part in the scheme of placing more
chronic diseases, and secondary emphasis on disease prevention.
just as important
not a bed of roses despite the various
improvements that have been put in care for more acute emergencies. There is great scope for im-
place over the past few years. One of Simple measures such as proper provement for our primary care
the most common complaints that can compliance with medication and setting and it is hoped that this
be heard is about the lack of doctors. leading a healthy lifestyle will go sector will get the backing that it
But it is less common to hear anyone a long way in not only improving needs.
mention there being too many patients one’s well-being, but in helping to But at the end of the day, the
at hospitals. ease the strain on our health-care management of any disease or ill-
Recently, a friend lamented that tions such as heart attacks and strokes able between health-care profes- system. ness boils down to the relationship
her caseload could easily be reduced are almost completely preventable, if sionals leading to fragmentation and At present, most urbanites tend between the health-care profes-
by half if her patients did not present risk factors are managed appropri- duplication of care, a situation that to visit private general practition- sional and the patient. Both have
with chronic diseases that could (and ately in the community. is worsened by our habits of jump- ers. The downside to this approach to play their role to ensure that the
should) have been easily dealt with at There has to be a degree of per- ing from one general practitioner to is that due to financial costs, they partnership is successful.
a primary care setting. It is not difficult sonal responsibility too. The old adage another. tend to be hesitant on visiting
to see how presentations of conditions “prevention is better than cure” holds This calls for a streamlining of the their family doctors for routine
such as hypertension or diabetes are true in most circumstances. We tend current system into one where good check-ups, and only do so when Dr Helmy Haja Mydin is health-care
better managed in the community, to have the unfortunate habit of seek- communication unites the disparate an emergency arises. policy fellow at the Malaysia Think
thus bringing into question the duty ing help or looking after ourselves entities within it. A better flow of This is where the government Tank (www.wauBebas.org). Com-
of primary care as well as individual only when physical manifestations information between health-care might be able to step in and play ment: lettters@thesundaily.com.
responsibility. of our illnesses appear, neglecting professionals will help improve situa-
The role of primary care should our bodies at other times while our tions, as this will allow for a smoother
not be underestimated. It deals with
the bread and butter of medicine, and
insides scream for a bit of tender lov-
ing care.
transaction with colleagues at second-
ary care and earlier acknowledge- letters
letters@thesundaily.com
should be at the forefront of co-ordi- Anecdotes are aplenty. I recently ment of a patient’s medical history.
nating services when the patient needs came across a diabetic patient who Methods such as electronic medical
care from other health-care sectors. It is
also a place where a holistic approach
presented me with a gangrenous toe,
but who had previously decided not
records and even personal handheld
pen drives should be looked into. Upgrade funicular
to public health policy allows such to take any of his blood sugar-lower- It would also be useful for the
policies to be transformed to practice
on the ground.
ing medication because he felt well
himself.
government to elevate the speciality
of family medicine and to encourage
before lives are lost
There is plenty of evidence to sug- Unfortunately, primary health-care medical students and junior doctors I READ that the Penang Hill Funicu- The Penang Heritage Trust
gest that a good relationship with your in Malaysia is provided in a rather to seek attachments in the primary lar broke down recently with over proposal to modify and change
general practitioner is associated with erratic manner without sufficient care setting, both for practical and 300 passengers having to endure selective parts of an obsolete and
better and more appropriate care. One horizontal or vertical co-ordination. research purposes. There should also the steep walk to safety. What will aging railway will put people’s lives
can go so far as to suggest that condi- Information is not readily transfer- be a move to place such profession- happen next? Is it going to take the at risk.
loss of life before someone takes I am not convinced that having
action? the middle station is beneficial
The railway is not safe, it does not since it still forces the passengers
meet international safety standards. to rush across the steps and other
It does not have a backup system inconveniences to board the next
www.newzealandeducated.com
rying in view of the rising incidence with galvanised iron pipes.
of cancer – the disease is the third
biggest killer in the country. M.G. Deva
It would be reassuring to the Kuala Lumpur