Najib: UniSZA Teaching Hospital to boost research on chronic diseases in country

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KUALA NERUS: The Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) Teaching Hospital once ready will not only be a boon for healthcare in the East Coast but also the best centre in the country for research on chronic diseases, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak.

He said embarking on the hospital project was proof of the government’s concern towards ensuring the people in Terengganu and the east coast states in general get top-level medical services in line with the standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“I have been made to understand the ratio of hospital beds to population in Terengganu is 1:837 as compared to the Klang Valley where it is 1:232, Penang 1:349, Johor 1:473 and nationally 1:496 whereas WHO has set it at 1:400,” he said when performing the ground-breaking ceremony for the RM600 million teaching hospital here yesterday.

He said the reality was that there was a need for more hospital beds in Terengganu and that the construction of the Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) Teaching Hospital was one of the government’s iniatitives for the wellbeing of the people.

He added that the hospital which would be built in two phases would not only raise healthcare to a new level in Terengganu but also generate economic spinoffs which would benefit the locals greatly.

At the same time, Najib said, the hospital would also be a research centre on chronic diseases following the success of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in UniSZA.

He said since the official launch of the UniSZA city campus (opposite the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital here) on Jan 9, 2009, the university had produced 28 students who would be receiving their medical degrees.

“The construction of the hospital is a joint effort by the federal and state governments and will be a new landmark for Terengganu and Kuala Nerus,” he said.

With the new hospital, UniSZA will be the fourth institute of higher learning in the country to have a teaching hospital after Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia. — Bernama