GREETINGS: Abu Seman (third left) hands over ‘duit raya’ while (from left) Ibrahim, Dr Rais and others look on.
SIBU: The government has continued to strengthen the country’s healthcare facilities to cover all strata of society, reaching out even to those in far-flung villages to ensure a healthy population.
Jemoreng assemblyman and a political secretary to the Chief Minister Abu Seman Jahwie said with a healthy and productive population, the country could continue to progress and become competitive when its people were productive.
“To provide better healthcare services to the people, the government has built hospitals, clinics and 1Malaysia clinics apart from flying doctors.
“Health is wealth, and the government wants the people to be healthy so that they can better manage the resources of the country, enabling it to continue to reap the fruits of prosperity and growth.
“As the country moves towards achieving a high income economy, the people need to be both physically and mentally healthy in order to move in that direction.
“With a healthy and productive population, the government could generate savings from the reduction in health-related expenses such as treatment.
“This saving in turn can be used to benefit the people in the form of development,” he said when officiating at ‘Majlis Mesra Aidilfitri’ organised by ‘Persatuan Kebajikan Islam (Perkip), Sibu Hospital yesterday.
Present were Sibu divisional health officer Dr Muhamad Rais, Sibu divisional dental officer Dr Gurmeet Singh and Hospital Sibu Perkip chairman Ibrahim Jack.
Abu Seman, who is the guest-of-honour at the function, said that healthcare aspect had always been given top priority by the government.
Turning to the people, he said they too were responsible for their own health.
“They need to practise a healthy lifestyle which includes regular exercise and consuming less sugar as well as having a balanced diet,” he said.
On hospital staff, he said being healthcare workers they should continue to provide a world-class service to care for their patients.
This, he added, would require them to make simple gesture such as a smile to brighten up their patients.
“Patients are our customers and we have a responsibility to care for them, and provide good customer service to delight them, enabling them to leave with a pleasant experience.
“A smile for instance, can go a long way to lessen the worries of the patients who may be bogged down by their ailments.
“So you see, smile is a form of therapy that can contribute to the well being of the patients,” he said.
Abu Seman reminded the hospital staff to benchmark their service with other service providers in the same industry.
In that way, they would be able to better know where they stood and initiate actions to move forward.
Earlier, Dr Rais also called on the staff to continue to provide good service to the people.