For the past weeks, we’ve been hearing about the struggles and risks that healthcare workers are facing, as they battle COVID-19 on the frontlines. But in a field where they have already been facing high rates of burnout, how are they coping in this current situation? We’re speaking to Assoc Prof Dr Amer Siddiq bin Amer Nordin, Consultant Psychiatrist from University Malaya Medical Centre to help us understand what frontliners are going through.
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If you have cancer, the COVID-19 outbreak, and its rapid spread here in Malaysia, is probably a source of constant anxiety. Dr Murallitharan Munisamy, Medical Director of the National Cancer Society, guides us through what people with cancer need to know about going for treatment and staying safe during this outbreak.

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If you’re constantly waking up at night to urinate, it’s probably disturbing your sleep and causing other problems. Night urination (or medically known as nocturia), is a common medical condition that can affect both men and women, young and old. Consultant urologist Prof Dr Ong Teng Aik tells us more.

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With so much anxiety and uncertainty over the COVID-19 outbreak, how can parents talk to their kids – including children with special needs – about what’s going on? And how do parents manage these four weeks at home with their children, with the Movement Control Order being imposed on schools? We check in with consultant developmental paediatrician Dr Rajini Sarvananthan to find out more. 

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We hear a lot about contact tracing and surveillance as a critical part of the response to COVID-19. But what exactly does it involve? We find out more from public health physician Dr Gunenthira Rao, who coordinates the district level response in one of the states.

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Cancer treatments can leave the patients feeling weak and fatigued, which can have negative repercussions on their quality of life. That’s where physical rehabilitation comes in to help improve the strength and stamina of the individual, so that they can return to their daily routines. To find out more about the role of rehabilitation after cancer treatments, we’ll be speaking to clinical oncologist Dr Aqilah Othman from Sunway Medical Centre.

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With the Movement Control Order in place from the 18th to 31st March, we’re looking at one of the most vulnerable groups in our community: the elderly. We find out from consultant geriatrician Prof Dr Tan Maw Pin what are the most urgent concerns for the elderly and how we can better care for them during these times.

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With one more case of polio in Sabah this week bringing the total reported cases to four, there is clearly an urgent need to immunise non-Malaysian children. The Ministry of Health and the Sabah Health Department embarked on a Polio Immunisation Campaign last December, ad last month, the Ministry of Health also received 2.5 million doses of polio vaccine from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, to immunise more than one million children under 13 in Sabah. This includes both Malaysian and non-Malaysian children across the state of Sabah. Assoc Prof Dr Aznida Firzah Abdul Aziz, family medicine consultant from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, joins us to discuss the economic and social cost of non-vaccination.

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Universities and tertiary institutions will be shut for 2 weeks, starting today, under the Movement Control Order. On the Mind Matters series, we speak to Assoc Prof Dr Amer Siddiq bin Amer Nordin, Consultant Psychiatrist, Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, to discuss the impact of this disease outbreak, and the restriction of activities, on the mental health of youths.

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Yesterday, the government of Malaysia announced a Movement Control Order, restricting public gatherings and a wide range of activities in a bid to prevent further transmission of COVID-19. Amid the frenzied sharing of information related to this development, there is a lot of confusion about where this outbreak is headed and where this latest government intervention fits into the overall public health response. We speak to Prof Dr Sanjay Rampal, epidemiologist from University of Malaya to get a clearer (and hopefully, calmer) picture. Prof Rampal is a Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health Physician at the Dept of Social and Preventive Medicine at UM. He is also Chair of the Public Health Society Malaysian Medical Association.

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