PUTRAJAYA: The country needs to find ways to be self-sustainable when it comes to medical protective gear, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today.
He cited the example of Malaysia taking the lead with 63 per cent of the global production of gloves.
“We are the largest producer of gloves in the world and it should be the same with PPE. We should be the ones taking the lead,” he said.
Currently, the use of Personal Protective Equipment or PPE has multiplied by 3 to10 times in hospitals due to the ongoing pandemic.
“PPE is being used continuously and we need to see how we can ensure a continuous supply and also ensure an efficient distribution channel to all states and clinics,” said Dr Noor Hisham.
Frontliners must also use PPE as per the guidelines of the ministry, he added.
There are clear guidelines on who needs to don full PPE gear and who doesn’t, based on their tasks or duties.
“We must ensure only those who need full PPE wear it but there are times when even those who don’t need to, also wear it. They must follow guidelines we have drawn up to avoid wastage.”
For now, frontliners have been told to wear PPE even when they are treating patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza Like Illness (ILI) given the possibility that these patients may have Covid-19.
The ministry is also facing difficulties acquiring N95 masks for use because the United States has stopped exporting the masks. It is instead trying to acquire KN95 masks from China.
At the moment, the ministry already has 100,000 pieces of KN95 masks, given by China which can be used.
Dr Noor Hisham also revealed that Malaysia has 42 local companies producing 3 ply masks but now there is a need to look into how the nation can produce N95 masks as well, for self consumption and export within the region and globally.
“We need to ensure that we always have a stock of over two weeks of these essential gear,” hesaid.
Currently, the ministry’s stock of surgical N95 masks is adequate for 37 days, surgical 3 ply masks for 47 days and protective head covers for 52 days. Face shield stocks can last for 25 days, boot covers for 78 days and isolation gowns for 23 days.
The stock of protective overalls/jumpsuits however may only last 19 more days.
Dr Noor Hisham said any private organisation or NGO which wish to donate PPE to hospitals could contact the ministry and they will provide guidelines on how to make the gear and the type of fabric that should be used.