A NEW volunteer group – Doctors On Ground (DnG) – is making its presence felt among vulnerable communities in Malaysia by providing better access to medical services.

Set up earlier this month by Dr Syazana Ali and law student-cum-activist Arissa Jemaima, most of the refugees they handle are from the Rohingya community.

On Thursday, the DnG conducted its first health camp at the premises of another volunteer group, Women for Refugee (WFR) in Batu Caves, Selangor. Arissa is also the co-founder of WFR.

The venue, located at a shoplot, was packed with refugees as Syazana, with the help of a few final year medical students, started seeing patients.

By the time they ended their work at noon, they had seen about 40 patients, with most facing pregnancy difficulties and high blood pressure issues.

“Part of my service as a doctor is to help the vulnerable communities out there. That is why we decided to start DnG.

“During my studies, I did six months of community service in a small village in Indonesia and that was an eye-opener.

“I realised there are so many people out there who are not able to get basic medical care,” the 31-year-old Syazana, who is attached to Shah Alam Hospital, told The Malaysian Insight.

She is also pursuing her masters to become a specialist in family medicine.

She added that DnG was planning to offer free consultation at least once or twice a month for the refugee community. Right now they are concentrating on the 80 Rohingya families in Selayang.

She said their work was important as it helps to save the lives of these patients.

“For instance, one of my patients, who is pregnant, if she had not come and told me her problem, she would have given birth at home and would have probably bled to death.

“I provided consultation and helped her get funding and proper treatment in a hospital,” said Syazana.

She said DnG was not interested in seeing large numbers of people but would rather give everything they can to a small number of patients.

She added that since DnG was still very new, it will continue to rely on others to help them handle these patients.

DnG gets help from the Federation of Reproductive Health Association Malaysia (FRHAM), which provides free HIV screening, condoms and contraceptive pills.

“So if the patients come to me with those issues, I will refer them to FRHAM.”

She added that she will be roping in about six volunteer doctors to ease the process of consultation as soon as possible.

Relief for refugees

One of the refugees who visited Syazana at the free clinic was 54-year-old Mariam who said after being in Malaysia for more than 12 years, she has never been approached by anyone who gave her medical guidance and assistance.

“From now onwards I will not have to worry about my health or medicines,” she told The Malaysian Insight when met at the clinic.

Another refugee, Kassima, 46 said she felt like the burden on her has eased as she can go to DnG for medical assistance.

“At times when I was not feeling well or have to buy the necessary medicine, I would just rest at home for a couple of days as medications can be expensive,” she said.

Salima, 43, meanwhile, said this initiative would help her family save money to buy the other basic necessities.

“There are days when I have to spend money on medication, which could be used to buy food. So I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that is provided by DnG,” she said.

Siti, 32, said she stayed away from hospitals or government clinics due to language barrier and financial issues.

“I never saw a day like this when strangers came to offer medical assistance. When it comes to the language barrier, there is also WFR to help me.

“I am very glad that they both have decided to work together which can ease our burden tremendously,” said Siti.

As of end of January, there were some 178,710 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia. A total of 102,350 of them are Rohingyas.

Overall, some 68% of refugees and asylum-seekers are men, while 32% are women. There are some 45,630 children below the age of 18.

DnG will update its clinic schedules on its social media. – April 26, 2021.