PUTRAJAYA needs to clarify once and for all who is in charge of leading the country out of the Covid-19 epidemic as decisions appear to be by multiple parties, a health policy expert said.

Dr Khor Swee Kheng said that the government needs to make this clarification at the upcoming Parliament sitting.

“They need to clarify who is in charge. 

“Whether it is the National Security Council, the national recovery council, the Health Ministry, the health minister or the director-general of Health,” he told an online forum hosted by electoral reform watchdog Bersih 2.0 today.

Currently, the NSC is in charge of rolling out Covid-19 standard operating procedure while the national recovery plan puts in place measures for economic recovery. 

Vaccination, which used to be under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, is now under the Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khor, an independent health policy expert, said Putrajaya also needs to explain to the public what Covid-19 endemicity means, and to set parameters that are acceptable to manage it.

“Endemicity means we have to accept that a number of daily cases and deaths are tolerable. The government needs to figure out what this acceptable number is.

“(With endemicity) we will not have zero cases so we have to determine what is acceptable to society,” he said.

Khairy said last week that Covid-19 will be endemic to the country from the end of October.

The endemic phase will begin once 80% of the adult population in the country is fully vaccinated. To date, 69.6% of the adult population have received both doses of the vaccine.

In the endemic phase, more sectors will be allowed to reopen and new norms or SOP will be improved, Khairy said.

Mask-wearing will continue to be mandated, he added.

Khor also called for a health reform commission that runs independently from the government.

“Covid-19 is uncovering decades long systemic failure in the healthcare system. The government should create a health reform commission that can operate across multiple ministers and multiple administrations.”

As reforms take a long time, Khor said the commission should be set up for a term of 10 years to enact institutional changes to the healthcare system. 

“Reform takes a long time. We need a vehicle to withstand government charges to guide healthcare reform for at least 10 years,” he added.

He also reminded Putrajaya that health is political but health cannot be politicised. 

“Health cannot be weaponised to erode democracy as an excuse to cancel Parliament and issue top down instruction to create fear in the people.” – September 8, 2021.