People receive their Covid-19 booster jab at the UEM Learning Centre in Petaling Jaya November 24, 2021. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Health Ministry said a National Disease Control Centre (NDCC) will be established to address any potential public health crises in the future. — Malay Mail photo
KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Health Ministry said a National Disease Control Centre (NDCC) will be established to address any potential public health crises in the future.
According to the Health White Paper released on Parliament’s website, the paper said the establishment of the NDCC was necessitated to ensure a level of preparedness and rapid response to potential crises.
It said the Covid-19 pandemic has put the country’s healthcare system to test in terms of its capacity and resilience, which has further revealed gaps and constraints in relation to cross-agency and cross-border coordination during a national health crisis.
“The NDCC will be established as the basis for preparedness and response to infectious diseases and to coordinate the distribution of manpower for health during a crisis.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has also shown how important it is to ensure the availability of sufficient medical equipment, diagnostics and essential medicines,” it said.
The paper said the aforementioned initiative to strengthen the existing public health service network was still at a conceptual stage. — Malay Mail