PUBLIC HEALTH

Family Health Development Program The Family Health Development program has two main components comprising Maternal and Child Health Care and Primary Health Care. These services are provided through community health clinics, village health teams and the Flying Doctor Service in rural areas, and through polyclinics in urban areas. The attendances at these facilities total more than 3 million outpatients per year. Maternal and Child Health Care Primary Health Care Out Patient Care Village Health Promoter Program Expanded Scope Maternal and Child Health Care The services provided under maternal and child health care include antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care; childhood immunization; nutritional and developmental assessment; food supplementation; health education and family planning. In 2001, 96.90% of mothers received antenatal care; 98% of reported deliveries were conducted by trained personnel; and 99.8% of infants completed their primary immunisation. The Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorder Program aims to virtually eliminate iodine deficiency disorders from the State by 2005. The main strategies are legislation on the use of iodised salt, distribution of iodised salt to antenatal mothers and the installation of water iodinators for population groups at risk. back to top Primary Health Care The main activity in primary health care is general outpatient care. In addition to treatment of acute illnesses, primary health care facilities also provide follow-up treatment to those on long-term medication. Those with more complicated conditions are referred to specialist clinics in hospitals for further investigation and treatment. Personnel working in these facilities are also actively involved in health promotion activities to encourage the public to lead healthy lifestyles. In urban areas, outpatient services are provided through nine polyclinics which are located in Kuching and Sibu (two each) as well as in Miri, Sarikei, Kapit. Sri Aman and Lawas (one each). For towns without polyclinics, outpatient services are located in the hospital complexes themselves. Out-patient attendances for these polyclinics and hospitals were about 1.63 million in 2001. Under the Ministry of Health's re-structuring of general out-patient services, the management of all polyclinics was transferred to the Public Health Program beginning from 1996. In rural areas, outpatient services are provided through rural health centres and mobile health teams(Village Health Team). back to top Village Health Promoter Program Basic health care is also provided by community health volunteers who are trained under the Village Health Promoter (VHP) Program. This is a community-based health program introduced by Sarawak Health Department in 1983 to provide basic health services to people living in remote areas. Under this program, participating villages send two volunteers each to undergo three weeks of structured training on a variety of health-related topics in a nearby health facility. At the end of the training period, the volunteers return to their respective villages and help provide basic health care to the people there. Medical supplies and supervisory support are provided by staff from the nearest health facility. In turn, the volunteers provide regular reports on the types of illnesses they attend to. Up till the end of 2001, there are 2,956 VHP throughout the State, serving a total of 271,182 people from 1,664 villages. back to top Expanded Scope The scope of the Family Health Development program was expanded recently to include health screening for women, elderly health care, community mental health, and care of children with special needs. Breast cancer screening, the teaching of "breast-self examination" techniques and pap smear examination are now routine activities in all government maternal and child health clinics in the State. The Elderly Health Services are provided at 20 government health clinics. Ten centres have been established to provide early rehabilitation for children with special needs. Health clinics in both urban and rural areas have taken up the "Baby Friendly Initiative". 53 government polyclinics and health clinics in Sarawak are presently conducting routine screening for diabetes. For the period from January to June 2002, a total of 2,800 new cases of diabetes had been detected. 20 diabetes control teams have been established in 12 polyclinics and 8 urban health clinics while dedicated diabetes clinics has been established in 4 polyclinics and 4 urban health clinics. back to top e-mail us at shd@sarawak.health.gov.my