Dr Sirajuddin signing the plaque at the opening of the Kinta Palliative Care Centre at the Kampung Tawas Community Clinic in Ipoh.
IPOH: The Perak Health Department is considering more palliative care centres in the state, says its director Dr Sirajuddin Hashim.
He said the centres are crucial as they provide better quality of life for the patients and their families.
“Based on the data collected, the Health Ministry expects that more than 230,000 people will be in need of palliative care by 2030.
“There are 160 health clinics in the country that provide such care with two of them in Perak, namely the Simee and Tanjung Malim health clinics,” he told reporters after officiating the Kinta excellent domiciliary palliative care centre (EDPCC) at Tawas Damai here on Tuesday (Feb 28)
In October, former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said palliative care must be made more accessible at all levels of the healthcare system so everyone will be able to receive it when diagnosed with serious problems.
Sirajuddin said the EDPCC started operating in October.
“The unit has three main caregivers who will go to patients’ homes and provide the care they need. This is also the first EDPCC unit in Perak.
“Since it started operating, the centre has assisted over 100 patients where two-thirds of them are non-cancer related.
"They are people recovering from stroke, having kidney issues or heart disease and need palliative care as they no longer seek treatment in the hospital.
“We will make full use of the data and results we gathered from this EDPCC to see if we can expand it to other districts such as Kuala Kangsar or Taiping that are in need of comprehensive palliative care,” he said.
