A user scans a QR code via the My Sejahtera app at a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur on January 16, 2020. – Malay Mail photo
KUCHING (March 30): The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has called for the scanning of the MySejahtera app prior to entering premises to be stopped as the country transitions towards an endemic phase of Covid-19.
According to MMA president Dr Koh Kar Chai, doing so is no longer useful due to high transmissions of Covid-19 in the community compared to the earlier phases of the pandemic.
In a statement today, he said the use of MySejahtera allowed contact tracing to be done during the height of the pandemic, a feat that would have been impossible without the app.
He opined scanning may have outlived its usefulness for contact tracing due to the large numbers of positive cases where contact tracing would not be adopted on a wide scale.
However, he said the app’s contact tracing feature should still be preserved as there could be future pandemics.
He suggested MySejahtera could be adapted to be used as a personal health record as it is already linked to individual IDs and is non-transferable.
The worry would only be data security, he said.
“Looking at what is being shared on social media about the ownership of this app, it is hoped that the government will continue being proactive in securing the trust of the people in the app with the hope that it can ultimately be used in the management of health records in the move towards an effective healthcare system for the country,” said Dr Koh.
“What is lacking in the healthcare structure of this country is a centralised management system for the health records of our population. There is a need for an electronic medical record system that is secure and accessible by the healthcare providers in order that there is seamless care for the health of the people, unlike now where many a time we see that healthcare records are not accessible across healthcare facilities or providers.”
He added the MySejahtera app could be utilised as an initial effort to have a health record that can be carried by the individual to allow for access by healthcare providers as and when needed.