KUALA LUMPUR: Health-care services for the orang asli community will be further improved now that the Hospital Orang Asli Gombak and three clinics in Pahang, Kelantan and Perak are under the watch of the Health Ministry.

Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry, which took over the hospital and the three clinics from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, would offer better health-care services to the community as it was the professional in the field.

The ministry also took over the mobile clinic, mobile dentistry service team and the flying doctor service from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry.

Health check: Liow speaking to patient Halon Anak Sakit at Hospital Orang Asli Gombak.

“We will also be able to provide them with upgraded primary health care and introduce preventive measures for different diseases.

“The orang asli community, especially those living in the interior, will also enjoy better access to quality health services by being able to utilise the facilities provided by the ministry,” Liow told reporters after the handing over ceremony of the health and medical division under the Orang Asli Development Department to the Health Ministry yesterday.

He also assured the orang alsi communtiy that traditional practices, including exclusivity and family admission, at the hospital would continue under the administration of the Health Ministry.

“It is the tradition of the orang asli that when a patient is admitted to the hospital, his or her entire family will also check in to the hospital. We are maintaining this practice at the hospital, which has a capacity of 166 beds for the patients,” he said.

He said the ministry would also ensure that patients were only sent home after they had fully recovered because “it would be difficult for them to get out of their house to receive treatment again”.

On the latest updates on acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreak in Perak, Liow said nine patients with mild symptoms were still being warded with no new cases reported.

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