Call for Change in Sabah and Sarawak Healthcare Facilities

by Celine Woon

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Lawrence Jayaraj introducing the documentary to the audience

KUALA LUMPUR- In conjunction with the Gender Studies Seminar Series, the Department of Gender Studies in University of Malaya had organised a documentary screening and discussion session of “The Story of Kam Agong” here yesterday.

The 30-minute long documentary highlights on the issue of substandard maternity care in Malaysia, especially in the state of Sabah and Sarawak. The documentary was made by Lawrence Jayaraj and Agnes Padan who were also present during the screening.

Kam Agong was the mother of Agnes Padan who passed away in 2002 after giving birth in Long Semado, a small village in the district of Lawas, Sarawak. She was unable to have a normal childbirth and died due to complications.

Jayaraj, when asked of the main problem highlighted, said “The problem here is the forgery of her signature on the consent form of the surgery. She was also not given treatment at the hospital with great urgency despite suffering from deep pain”. Furthermore, Kam Agong was also discharged from the hospital despite being in a very weak condition.

Besides that, Jayaraj also mentioned that the clinic in the rural areas are not well maintained in terms of medical stock. For Kam Agong’s case, the Long Semado Clinic was unable to handle simple medical procedures, such as discharging paracetamol. A passport is required to go to the nearest hospital in Miri from Long Semado.

Dr. Nik Daliana binti Nik Farid from the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine believed that the Kam Agong case was preventable. “Static and mobile facilities have been dispatched in Sarawak to prevent these issues. In 2018, rural clinics have been upgraded by introducing cluster clinics to empower nearby clinics,” she said.

Meanwhile, Professor Dr. Chan Yoo Kuen of the Department of Anesthesiology said that access to health care is very differential and the Malaysian healthcare policy requires medical personnels to report to the police on immigrants who do not have proper documents. As a result, it prevents immigrants from getting treatment from hospitals.

“This applies to Kam Agong and her family. As they are required to use a passport to enter the nearest hospital which is in Miri, this leads to the problem,” Professor Dr. Chan added.

The case had already been brought to court and the hospital was sued for medical negligence. “For the compensation we received only RM50,000,” Padan said.

Despite being more than a decade, there is still a lack of improvement in the medical facilities. Therefore, Jayaraj and Padan urged the government to take immediate actions to solve this matter. However, they did not receive any responses from the Ministry of Health.

“Therefore, we are going to the Parliament on April 9 to hand over the petition,” Jayaraj said.

The screening was attended by members of the Faculty of Medicine and students from Gender Development course, Media Studies and English department of University of Malaya.

Official poster of “The Story of Kam Agong” documentary screening