Zulkifli (fifth right) receiving the mock cheque for RM50,000 from the Sarawak Health Workers Cooperative to support Sarawak Medical Club to the Malaysia Health Ministry’s sports meet in May.
KUCHING: Syarikat Ramaida Sdn Bhd has contributed RM2 million to Sarawak Health Workers Cooperative to finance the setting-up of community pharmacies in all government hospitals in Sarawak.
State Health Department director Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Syarikat Ramaida CEO Datuk Mazelan Bugo and the secretary of the Cooperative Abg Mustapha held at the State Health Department office in Jalan Diplomatik, off Jalan Bako here, Thursday.
Zulkifli revealed that two community pharmacies, each in Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) and SGH Heart Centre, are expected to be operational in May later.
“It costs about RM80,000 to set up one pharmacy. It offers a wide range of goods and services as well as health and wellness services apart from a pharmacy that is very much like Guardian and Watson,” he explained.
The cooperative chairman Lee Wee Ju emphasised that the initiative was aimed at strengthening healthcare delivery for communities.
“This initiative also provides an opportunity for the cooperative to generate economic activity in the field of pharmacy,” he said.
“But more importantly, this approach is focused on the welfare of patients as well as to raise awareness among the community on the importance of health care,” he emphasised.
Elaborating further, he said the community pharmacy allows better accessibility of patients to acquire supply of prescription and non-prescription medicines, especially those not listed in the KKM Drug Formulary (FUKKM) or Hospital Formulary.
“The community pharmacy offers a range of products and services to help patients and customers get, stay and live well and to reduce the burden of cost,” he explained.
“We want to provide patients and customers with the most affordable prices for their medication, at a location which is convenient and accessible,” he said.
“Through our pharmacies, we hope to be able to fulfill the needs of customers with our wide range of products and services including medical equipment,” he added.
The community pharmacy, according to Lee, will be expanded to Sibu, Bintulu, Miri and Kapit one month after the first two community pharmacies begin operation.
Earlier on, the cooperative presented a RM50,000 cheque to Zulkifli, as a contribution to support the Sarawak Medical Club to the Malaysia Health Ministry’s sports meet to be held in Melaka in May. With the contribution, Lee hopes the Sarawak State Health Department will perform well and obtain excellent results.