NST Leader: Making Sarawak's Flying Doctor Service safer

Malaysians gripe about practically everything, but almost everyone appreciates our heavily subsidised petrol and public healthcare system.

If there are gripes about the system, it's about the long wait, overcrowding and high demand. It's inevitable because some 90 per cent of Malaysians live within 5km of a government hospital or clinic.

So, spare a thought for citizens in need of medical care in rural villages, jungles and remote regions.

Malaysia's healthcare for all philosophy is driven by a collective social duty regardless of wealth, political inclination or social status.

This makes the Flying Doctor Service remarkable. The tragic helicopter crash in Long Lellang, Sarawak, that killed a pilot and four healthcare workers reminds us that healthcare revolves not only around hospitals and clinics.

The entire rural healthcare delivery system needs to be reexamined.

The Flying Doctor Service, introduced in 1973 to deliver healthcare to indigenous and rural communities, provides general treatment, maternal and child healthcare and childhood immunisations.

It serves 14,830 residents in 85 remote locations, flying out every one to three months, depending on weather and scheduling.

The tragedy has temporarily grounded operations, but the downtime gives the Health Ministry the opportunity for an urgent review of the service.

As alternative land and water routes are being explored, the Flying Doctor Service has to re-examine safety, especially the reliability of the helicopters it uses, most of which are decades old.

The review will focus on the aircraft, contracts, maintenance, operational procedures and overall delivery model.

In the mean time, medical attention in the interior cannot be neglected for weeks or even days. The Flying Doctor Service cannot depend too much on helicopters.

The ideal would be to have a network of boats, four-wheel-drives, mobile clinics and military and emergency service assets. Already, the police, air force, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and Fire and Rescue Department are chipping in with mercy flights until investigations are concluded.

Rural clinics and mobile healthcare teams can also reduce emergency evacuations. With better digital connectivity, telemedicine services can also connect rural clinics and community health workers with specialists from major hospitals.

The Flying Doctor Service's commercial contracts on procurement, contractor selection and terms governing private helicopter operators also need a relook.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia is expected to audit the maintenance history, safety protocols and airworthiness of the crashed Bo 105 helicopter manufactured in 1991.

Given the risks of the job, the Health Ministry should increase allowances for the personnel involved. It is stuck at RM30 per trip.

Provide mandatory, government-funded insurance coverage, too.