By Vincent D’Silva

JOHOR BARU: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) Johor took their own initiative to organise and provide free medical screening and free bakul Rahmah for flood victims at Kampung Melayu Raya in Pontian.

Johor MMA chairman Dr Mohan Kandasamy said his team from the MMA Johor did a free medical health screening for the flood victims in Pontian for some 200 people.

Dr Mohan Kandasamy

“We did a diabetes and a hypertension screening for all and gave  advice for them to take care of their hygiene by washing hands regularly and to drink only boiled water as well as avoiding all water borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, leptospirosis and dengue,” Dr Mohan said.

He said the MMA wanted to help those affected by the floods and reach out to them and ease the plight of those trapped in their homes or seeking shelter at relief centres.

He stressed that MMA doctors have ensured that the flood victims all were treated and taken care of.

The MMA team comprised six doctors and 10 nurses who assisted in the screening and treating the flood victims.

Dr Mohan pointed out that during floods,  the victims’ health is always neglected.

Hence, MMA decided to move in to this flood areas and assist the victims and ensure that they get checked and treated.

According to Dr Mohan, most of them have experienced floods more than once, some twice this year alone.

During the screening, the flood victims related how their homes were submerged and their places of business were badly damaged by floodwaters.

Doctors screening patients at a medical camp in one of the flood hot areas in Pontian.

MMA also handed out bakul Rahmah to some 80 needy families in view of the fasting month.

He explained that floods can cause widespread devastation, resulting in loss of life and damages to personal property and critical public health infrastructure.

“People who live in floodplains or non-resistant buildings, or lack warning systems and awareness of flooding hazard, are most vulnerable to floods,” he stressed.

Health, he said, is one of the most essential factors, and without it, one cannot even perform the simplest of tasks.

“That is why this dynamic organisation has set up a medical camp under the supervision of qualified doctors,” he said.

Each patient goes through a proper check-up by a doctor and he prescribes the medicine accordingly. All medicines are of high quality and are provided free of cost.

Dr Mohan said this medical camp was much needed to treat the flood victims who were suffering from sickness or diseases and could not afford the medications required.

He added that the MMA Johor is proud to be serving the victims who are facing difficulty in this disaster.

Johor, with a population of four million, is Malaysia’s second most populous state and is the worst hit by this season’s floods. Tens of thousands of its residents have been evacuated to relief centres in schools and community halls, officials said.

Experts from the Malaysian Meteorological Department have warned that the wet weather could continue until April.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had shared an update from Johor recently after visiting survivors and evacuees, saying that floods were a pressing issue for the country and that the government would expedite mitigation projects.

“This matter (of floods) cannot be delayed and should be dealt with more seriously so that it does not recur,” he said in a tweet.