Latest news with #MiracleBabyProgramme
The Star
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Star
Lifeline for patients with heart defects
The Miracle Baby Programme (MBP) gives babies and young children with congenital heart diseases life-saving surgery at no cost. Government surgeons and those from Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital in India, renowned in the field of congenital heart surgery, perform the surgeries on a pro bono basis. Health Ministry bore the cost of in-patient admission and post-surgery care. 'The surgery lasts six to 10 hours, followed by intensive post-operative care for four to five days,' said Health Ministry chief of cardiothoracic surgical services Datuk Dr Basheer Ahamed Abdul Kareem. 'Most surgeries in the private sector can cost between RM75,000 and RM150,000.' He added that it was to Penang Hospital's credit that the surgeons from India chose it to conduct MBP. A smaller team from India will visit every six months from here on, and four Malaysian surgeons would go to India to train with them, said Dr Basheer. One of the beneficiaries is four-year-old Noor Izz Medhina Muhamad Samsuri who went through the procedure. Her mother, Noor Izzatie Mohamed Yusoff, said: 'I am grateful that she underwent surgery free of charge under MBP.' Noor Izz's first procedure was in December 2022 when she was just a year old, followed by a second procedure last July. Another patient in the MBP was Eisya Marzuki. Siti Norazidah Mohd Hamzah said her daughter, who's now 19, underwent the surgery at 16. She said that Eisya had symptoms like rapid breathing and shortness of breath, prior to the surgery. 'The opportunity to undergo the surgery was a blessing. 'Now, she is waiting to further her studies,' said Siti Norazidah. Eleven-year-old Iris Sim had a congenital heart defect at birth and lived with it for nearly a decade before MBP gave her the chance to go for surgery. Her mother May Yap, a water filter technician, could not hold back her tears when recounting how she learned about MBP from hospital staff. She said the surgery was done at Penang Hospital a week or two after Iris was accepted into the programme. Now, more children will benefit following the launch of MBP 2.0 by Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Zara Salim at Penang Hospital. Also present were Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Education Foundation board of trustees chairman Tan Sri Dr Sak Cheng Lum and UTAR chancellor Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik. Lukanisman, in his speech, said MBP was founded by Dr Ling in collaboration with Penang Hospital and Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital. 'This extraordinary cross-border collaboration is a symbol of what can be achieved through compassion and excellence in healthcare,' he said. The first edition of MBP in 2022 successfully treated 18 babies and children. Under MBP 2.0, a total of 23 children underwent heart surgery.
The Star
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Indian docs perform heart ops on 23 kids in Penang
A GROUP of doctors from India performed heart surgeries on 23 children in two weeks under the Miracle Baby Programme (Second Mission) in Penang, Makkal Osai reported. The doctors from the Sri Sathya Sanjeevani Hospitals group carried out life-saving procedures on the children aged from just a few months up to 12, with local doctors' help. Penang Hindu Endowments Board (PHEB) vice-chairman and former director of the Sungai Bakap Hospital, Senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran, said the programme began in 2022. This year, it was done at Penang General Hospital with the collaboration of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, he said. PHEB chairman RSN Rayer, who is Jelutong MP, hosted a special event at the Waterfall Temple in Penang to honour the doctors who took part. It helped correct congenital heart diseases in the 23 children from all communities. > A groom walked out of his own wedding in New Delhi after a song reminded him of his ex-girlfriend, the daily also reported. The incident happened when the DJ began playing Channa Mereya from the Hindi film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai. The song, whose title means 'the moon in mine', apparently evoked memories of a previous love, prompting him to call off the wedding immediately. The wedding procession with the bride's family returned home minus the groom. In reaction to the story, which went viral later, the film's director Karan Johar posted an incredulous 'Huh?' on social media. Some commenters thanked the singer Arijit Singh for his emotional rendition of the song that stirred such feelings in the groom. Others, however, slammed the groom for his selfish act and even snidely remarked that he probably thought he was Ranbir. The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
New Straits Times
24-04-2025
- Health
- New Straits Times
Health Ministry restructuring jobs, launching initiatives to tackle specialist shortage
GEORGE TOWN: The Health Ministry is taking several steps to address the shortage of specialists in the country's health facilities, including restructuring the positions of medical officers and conducting a study on the maldistribution of doctors. Deputy Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni added that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's approval to add 800 specialists annually since 2023 could help meet the demand for medical specialists. "At the same time, we have also amended the Medicines Act 1971 by creating a parallel pathway programme to create more specialists through this alternative route. "Currently, we have around 692 specialists using the parallel pathway and also 6,211 medical officers undergoing specialist training," he told reporters after attending the officiation of the Miracle Baby Programme (Second Mission), a partnership between the Penang Hospital, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital, India, at the Penang Hospital here today, which was launched by Raja Permaisuri of Perak, Tuanku Zara Salim. He was addressing news reports claiming that the yearly decline in registered doctors and trainee doctors - 5,607 in 2021, 4,749 (2022) and 4,316 (2023) according to the Malaysian Medical Council, along with the trend of trainee doctor resignations, had contributed to the lack of specialists at government hospitals and clinics. Lukanisman also said the ministry was discussing requests by Sabah and Sarawak for a method of bringing specialists from Peninsular Malaysia by offering small incentives. He noted that the lack of specialists was a continuous issue as many fields lacked specialists, and as such, the ministry was implementing specialist training, with 1,650 slots to train specialists that will be offered through the federal training programme. "The ministry is currently fine-tuning 'future-ready' policies where we will use private sector expertise for certain services based on our experience during the Covid-19 pandemic where we outsourced to private hospitals," he said, as he stressed that Malaysia had sufficient capability and supply as well as public-private sector synergy to offer specialist services. – BERNAMA
The Sun
24-04-2025
- Health
- The Sun
MOH acts to address specialist shortage in public hospitals
GEORGE TOWN: The Health Ministry is taking several steps, including restructuring positions of medical officers and conducting a study on the maldistribution of doctors to tackle the lack of specialists in the country's health facilities. Its deputy minister, Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni added that the approval by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to add 800 specialists annually since 2023 could address the need for medical specialists. 'At the same time, we have also amended the Medicines Act 1971 by creating a parallel pathway programme to create more specialists through this alternative route. 'Currently, we have around 692 specialists using the parallel pathway and also 6,211 medical officers undergoing specialist training,' he told reporters after attending the officiation of the Miracle Baby Programme (Second Mission), a partnership between the Penang Hospital, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital, India, at the Penang Hospital here today, which was launched by Raja Permaisuri of Perak, Tuanku Zara Salim. He was addressing news reports claiming that the yearly decline in registered doctors and trainee doctors - 5,607 in 2021, 4,749 (2022) and 4,316 (2023) according to the Malaysian Medical Council, along with the trend of trainee doctor resignations had contributed to the lack of specialists at government hospitals and clinics. Lukanisman also said the MOH was discussing about requests by Sabah and Sarawak for a method on bringing specialists from Peninsular Malaysia by offering small incentives. He noted that the lack of specialists was a continuous issue as there were many fields that lacked specialists, and as such, the ministry was implementing specialist training, with 1,650 slots to train specialists that will be offered through the federal training programme. 'The MOH is currently fine-tuning 'future-ready' policies where we will use private sector expertise for certain services based on our experience during the Covid-19 (pandemic) where we outsourced to private hospitals,' he said, as he stressed that Malaysia had sufficient capability and supply as well as public-private sector synergy to offer specialist services.
The Sun
24-04-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Job restructuring part of MOH efforts in tackling lack of specialists
GEORGE TOWN: The Health Ministry is taking several steps, including restructuring positions of medical officers and conducting a study on the maldistribution of doctors to tackle the lack of specialists in the country's health facilities. Its deputy minister, Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni added that the approval by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to add 800 specialists annually since 2023 could address the need for medical specialists. 'At the same time, we have also amended the Medicines Act 1971 by creating a parallel pathway programme to create more specialists through this alternative route. 'Currently, we have around 692 specialists using the parallel pathway and also 6,211 medical officers undergoing specialist training,' he told reporters after attending the officiation of the Miracle Baby Programme (Second Mission), a partnership between the Penang Hospital, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital, India, at the Penang Hospital here today, which was launched by Raja Permaisuri of Perak, Tuanku Zara Salim. He was addressing news reports claiming that the yearly decline in registered doctors and trainee doctors - 5,607 in 2021, 4,749 (2022) and 4,316 (2023) according to the Malaysian Medical Council, along with the trend of trainee doctor resignations had contributed to the lack of specialists at government hospitals and clinics. Lukanisman also said the MOH was discussing about requests by Sabah and Sarawak for a method on bringing specialists from Peninsular Malaysia by offering small incentives. He noted that the lack of specialists was a continuous issue as there were many fields that lacked specialists, and as such, the ministry was implementing specialist training, with 1,650 slots to train specialists that will be offered through the federal training programme. 'The MOH is currently fine-tuning 'future-ready' policies where we will use private sector expertise for certain services based on our experience during the Covid-19 (pandemic) where we outsourced to private hospitals,' he said, as he stressed that Malaysia had sufficient capability and supply as well as public-private sector synergy to offer specialist services.
