the speedy despatch of health, investigation and control medical teams during disease
outbreaks. 112
On the other hand, the VHPP is a community-based health programme, in which
participating villages would send two volunteers to be trained to provide basic healthcare
services. At the end of the training, volunteers would be deployed to serve the basic
health needs of communities living in remote areas. Volunteers would also be
responsible for providing reports on the types of illnesses they had attended to. By the
end of 2001, there were a total of 2,956 VHPP in Sarawak that serve a total of 271,182
people from 1,664 villages. 113
More recently, in 2010, the 1Malaysia Mobile Clinic (1MMC) Programme was
introduced, with the first mobile clinic launched at the Orang Asli Pos Raya village in
Perak. Unlike the other existing mobile clinics provided by the Ministry of Health, the
1MMC is more comprehensive with sophisticated facilities and has the ability to perform
minor surgeries. 114
Sarawak
State
Health
Department,
‘About
Sarawak
Health
Department’
<http://jknsarawak.moh.gov.my/en/modules/mastop_publish/?tac=92>accessed 31 July 2014
113
Ibid.
114
Bernama, ‘1Malaysia Mobile Clinics Will Provide Free Medical Services For Rural Folk – Najib’, KKLW (Ipoh, 9
December 2010) <http://kklw.bernama.com/en/news.php?id=548749>; Bernama, ‘Orang Asli have access to
1Malaysia
Mobile
Clinics’
The
Borneo
Post
(Bentong,
6
February
2012)
<http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/02/06/orang-asli-have-access-to-1malaysia-mobile-clinics/>;
Nornasheila Zaidi, ‘1Malaysia cataract mobile clinic starts operation‘ New Sarawak Tribune (Kota Samarahan,
13 September 2013) <http://www.newsarawaktribune.com/news/11340/1Malaysia-cataract-mobile-clinicstarts-operation/>; Chan Li Lee, ‘PM launches 1Malaysia mobile clinic’ The Star Online (Ipoh, 9 December
2010)< http://www.thestar.com.my/Story/?file=%2F2010%2F12%2F9%2Fnation%2F20101209134324>; Chan
Li Lee, ‘1Malaysia mobile clinic to reach out to those in the interior’ The Star Online (Ipoh, 10 December
2010)<http://www.thestar.com.my/Story/?sec=nation&file=%2F2010%2F12%2F10%2Fnation%2F7597009>
accessed 24 September 2014
112
33