Month: September 2021

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141 fly to Langkawi from Ipoh on maiden flight

IPOH, Sept 17 — A total of 141 passengers, including 23 children, took off on the first flight from the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport here today to Langkawi under the travel bubble pilot project.

Perak Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Public Transport Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Zolkafly Harun said AirAsia is offering Ipoh-Langkawi-Ipoh flights thrice a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays starting today.

“The flight to Langkawi uses an Airbus A320 aircraft with a maximum capacity of 180 passengers and the maiden flight at about 1.30 pm today had a load of 80 per cent,” he told a media conference at the airport here today.

Also present were public health medical specialist Dr. Mohd Zamri Md Ali and Ipoh Malaysia Airport Berhad manager Tugiman Sabudin.

Mohd Zolkafly said passengers were required to undergo a COVID-19 screening test and those who tested positive were not allowed to continue their journey, after which they would be subjected to existing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for case management.

According to Mohd Zolkafly, over 50 per cent of the flight capacity or more than 70 passengers have so far booked their seats for the next Langkawi flights on Sunday and Wednesday.

He said the state government had also taken various measures to restore the confidence of tourists to visit Perak, include implementing specific vaccination programmes for tourism industry players.

“A lot of preparations have been done to ensure that the domestic tourism sector is active again and ready to receive visitors and tourists, especially when our state borders are fully opened,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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‘Innovation for Cool Earth Forum 8th Annual Meeting’ kicks off Oct 6 – 7

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — The ICEF Secretariat has announced that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) will host ‘Innovation for Cool Earth Forum 8th Annual Meeting (ICEF2021)’ online from Oct 6 to 7.

Every year since 2014, METI and NEDO have hosted the Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF) to gather leading international figures in Tokyo to discuss how to combat climate change through technological innovation, according to a statement.

ICEF’s mission is to nurture discussion and collaboration among participants and disseminate the industry’s latest innovations in energy and environmental technologies by providing a place where experts can share their knowledge on how to tackle the 21st century’s greatest environmental challenge.

A distinguished steering committee, consisting of members from worldwide, strives to bring the best minds together to develop a programme which addresses forces of change while ensuring they are based on solid evidence.

In the world, a variety of initiatives across industry, government and academia are being rapidly accelerated toward a Decarbonized Society.

There are many diverse climate change challenges, and all stakeholders in society, including the private sector and governments, are called upon to tackle specific actions from short and long-term perspectives.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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JKR signs MoU on data integration programme to monitor federal projects in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 17 — The Public Works Department (JKR) and Sabah JKR today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to carry out the Control and Reporting System (SKALA) data integration programme to further facilitate the process of monitoring the implementation of federal projects in the state.

Deputy Works Minister Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup said the integration of the system could benefit Malaysian JKR and Sabah JKR officers in managing projects being implemented in the state.

“Through the monitoring of the projects, it will be able to provide accurate and up-to-date information to improve the efficiency of online communication and reporting.

“This enables federal and state development project data to be accessed jointly. This data sharing will also speed up the process of reporting the physical progress of the project to enable stakeholders to obtain information immediately, besides saving costs,” he told reporters after witnessing the signing of the MoU here.

The MoU was signed by Public Works director-general Datuk Mohamad Zulkefly Sulaiman and Sabah JKR director Ali Ahmad Hamid.

The signing ceremony was also witnessed by Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin

Elaborating further, Arthur said cooperation between the federal and state agencies needed to be enhanced in an effort to accelerate the implementation of government projects and programmes towards digital transformation.

Meanwhile, Bung Moktar said the MoU was timely due to the current challenges the country is facing, especially the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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4-day 18th Annual Meeting of Science and Technology in Society forum begins Oct 2

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — The STS forum, a non-profit organisation will hold its 18th Annual Meeting from Oct 2 to 5, which will be LIVE ONLINE from Kyoto, Japan.

World leaders, including professional scientists, policymakers and business leaders, will gather online to discuss the pressing science and technology issues the world is facing and to build an international network.

The forum will host 20 sessions online this year. Some examples of the topics are ‘Global Pandemic–Lessons Learned and Forecast’; ‘Green Recovery for Sustainable Society’; ‘Disruptive Technologies for Industries’; and, ‘The Second Quantum Revolution and Society’.

According to a statement, more than 100 distinguished speakers have confirmed their online presence.

Among others, Policymakers: Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner, European Commission, EU; Laksana Tri Handoko, Chairman, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia; Helen Elizabeth Clark, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Business leaders: Nathan Myhrvold, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Intellectual Ventures, U.S.A.; Terry Brady, President and CEO, Underwriters Laboratories Inc, U.S.A.; and, Ahmad O. Al-Khowaiter, Chief Technology Officer, Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Arabia.

Academia: Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, U.S.A.; George Fu Gao, Director-General, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China; and, Gerald H. Haug, President, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany.

International organisation/media: Seth Berkley, CEO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief, Nature, U.K.; and, Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief, Science, U.S.A.

Invitation requests can be submitted from https://www.stsforum.org/kyoto2021/ or more details available at https://www.stsforum.org/

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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COVID-19 vaccination for teens in Pahang to start on Monday

KUANTAN, Sept 17 — The COVID-19 vaccination programme for teenagers aged 16 and 17 in Pahang will begin on Monday (Sept 20), said state health director Datuk Dr Nor Azimi Yunus.

Dr Nor Azimi, in a statement posted on her Facebook account, said the Pahang Health Department (JKNP) was also coordinating with the state Education Department regarding the vaccination exercise.

The administration of vaccines to teenagers in Pahang had already started on Sept 15 at five major hospitals involving those suffering from high-risk diseases.

The hospitals involved are Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Hospital in Temerloh, Pekan Hospital, Lipis Hospital and Bentong Hospital.

Regarding the vaccination programme in Pahang, Dr Nor Azimi said as of yesterday, a total of 960,126 people or 81.7 per cent of the adult population of Pahang had been partially vaccinated while 691,258 people or 58.8 per cent had been fully vaccinated.

Dr Nor Azimi said another 26,048 people had registered and currently waiting for vaccination.

“However, there are still 189,626 people or 16.1 per cent who have yet to register (for vaccination). Based on the sufficient supply of vaccines, we are targeting 100 per cent of the adult population to be vaccinated at least with one dose, by the end of this month,” she said.

However, she said, based on the current performance, the target may be slow to be achieved and various strategies have been put in place in all districts to boost the vaccination process, including implementing outreach programmes in almost all villages.

“Walk-in strategy has also been implemented in all districts. However, attendance for the first dose injection is still not reaching the target. The opportunities and space to get the injection are wide open,” she said, adding that deaths from COVID-19 were heart-breaking with most involving individuals who have not been vaccinated.

In this regard, Dr Nor Azimi hopes that the residents of Pahang who have yet to be vaccinated, to grab the opportunity and thus reduce the severity of infections and deaths due to the COVID-19 virus.

Meanwhile, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the vaccination exercise for teenagers in the state would involve about 173,000 individuals.

He said besides teenagers aged 16 and 17, other vaccine recipients are those aged between 12 and 15 with health problems, adding that priority will be given to persons with disabilities, vulnerable groups and teenagers in shelter and rehabilitation institutions.

“Apart from students in secondary schools under the state Education Department, students in religious schools under the state Islamic Religious Department and education institutions under Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) will also receive the vaccine.

“They will be inoculated at the stipulated vaccination centres under the coordination of the education and district health offices,” he said in a statement today.

Wan Rosdy said teenagers involved were required to fill out the parental or guardian consent form before being allowed to receive the vaccine.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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COVID: 17,577 new cases reported, Sarawak still highest – Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Malaysia’s new COVID-19 cases dipped further again after 17,577 infections were reported today, compared to 18,815 cases yesterday.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in sharing COVID-19 related data on his social media accounts, said the latest numbers bring COVID-19 cumulative cases to 2,067,327.

He said Sarawak continued being the state with the highest daily new cases, reporting 3,480 infections, followed by Selangor (2,646) and Johor with 2,334 cases.

Four states recorded over 1,000 new infections, namely Perak with 1,596 cases, Sabah (1,533), Penang (1,462) and Kedah (1,173).

Kelantan reported 869 cases, Pahang (832), Terengganu (719), Kuala Lumpur (366), Melaka (287), Negeri Sembilan (198), Perlis (41), Putrajaya (31) and Labuan (10).

Dr Noor Hisham also said that intensive care unit (ICU) bed usage nationwide yesterday was 76 per cent out of 1,611 beds, while for non-ICU, it was 70 per cent out of 17,043 beds.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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MOH targets 20 percent of private hospitals recognised as baby-friendly hospitals by 2025

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) aims to increase the percentage of private hospitals recognised as baby-friendly hospitals to 20 per cent, by 2025.

Its Deputy Minister, Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, said based on the latest data, only 22 or 12.6 per cent of the 175 private hospitals in Malaysia had been recognised as baby-friendly hospitals while all government hospitals had succeeded earlier.

“Having baby-friendly hospitals is important in improving the practice of exclusive breastfeeding, especially when many women are already aware of its benefits and importance.

“Breastfeeding is the best food for babies because it can also prevent babies from getting chronic diseases in the future,” he said at a press conference after officiating the World Breastfeeding Week, National Lactation Centre (NLC) level at Tunku Azizah Hospital, here today.

He said the MOH understood that private hospitals had their own constraints and did not set high targets but the government was working to achieve those targets.

In the meantime, Dr Noor Azmi said the MOH has its own guidelines in ensuring that mothers who are suspected or have been infected with COVID-19 can still feed their babies.

These include obtaining expressed milk from the mothers concerned to give to their babies or using donated milk.

“So the notion that mothers and their children must be separated or cannot receive milk when infected with COVID-19 is wrong because we have guidelines set to provide alternatives to mothers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Azmi opined that it was time for NLC to be upgraded to the National Lactation Institute, in line with the development and needs of its services in promoting, supporting and protecting breastfeeding in Malaysia.

“This NLC, which has existed for more than 13 years, is the lead agency for breastfeeding programmes and has shown various great achievements, including increasing the percentage of private hospitals that are recognised as baby-friendly hospitals.

“It also became a reference centre for expertise related to breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic, so I strongly support this (upgrading process) to be expedited,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency