MALAYSIA needs to form a health security agency to prepare to face health threats, a think tank said. 

Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib said Malaysia needs to seriously consider forming a health security agency as part of a dedicated and multidisciplinary effort to boost public health emergency preparedness, prevention and response against current and ongoing health threats such as Covid-19. 

“The recent Covid-19 public health emergency has flipped the table on previous thinking, which assumed that outbreaks should be under the sole responsibility of the Health Ministry.

“This pandemic has taught countries a brutal lesson on the need to not just look at the pathogen, the disease it causes, and the epidemiology, but also the socio-economic implications on economies and countries, and impact on communities and lives,” Azrul said in a statement.

He said the experience and challenges faced in working within the mechanisms of the National Security Council and National Disaster Management Agency to manage the Covid-19 crisis has shown how such structures are better suited for traditional security threats or natural disasters. 

They are ill-equipped, inadequate and struggle to cope in a public health emergency such as the outbreak of an infectious disease, he said.

“It has been a wake-up call for everyone,” Azrul said. 

“You cannot control a highly virulent pathogen by threatening to shoot it or impose hefty fines or imprisonment. 

“We need an agency that combines the best in public health and social care expertise and experience, takes the lead, and is able to marshal the resources of the government, non-government, academic, and private sector to respond to future threats. 

“It should comprise experts and representatives from different ministries and non-government agencies such as the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre and Social Welfare Department. 

“The Greater Klang Valley Special Task Force formed in 2021 is a great example of such effective collaboration,” he added. 

Azrul said forming a new agency is not about creating another layer of bureaucracy, or renaming departments for the sake of it. 

He said this is a “must-have” to ensure that Malaysia is capable of preparing for and preventing and responding to infectious diseases and other health threats.

“We must be able to mount a response that reduces the negative social impact of interventions on the most vulnerable communities, and reduces health disparities. 

“This agency is not a ‘nice-to-have’ but a ‘must-have’. It is a necessary investment,” Azrul said, adding that the cost of setting up such an agency is negligible in comparison to the potential loss of billions in funds and lives. 

“This is not an academic or hypothetical exercise. Covid-19 is an example of what can and has happened. 

“We need a framework to be able to plan and prepare better, that is more agile, proactive, flexible, and reactive towards threats, including emerging challenges such as combating misinformation and pseudoscience. 

“Covid-19 caused massive disruptions, pulling institutions out of siloed workflows, breaking up rigid bureaucratic structures, and forcing people to work together across government, non-government and private lines, overcoming red tape and improving effectiveness of the response,” he said.

Azrul said that the past two years of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis have demonstrated that the burden and responsibility of tackling future and emerging infectious disease threats should not and must not be the sole responsibility of the Health Ministry. 

He said Malaysia has to integrate the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches into ongoing and future responses to public health emergencies. 

“As we come to the end of 2022, all eyes are turned towards recent developments in China. 

“We cannot afford to further lose billions of future revenue, years of economic progress and thousands of lives lost. 

“SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, is only the most recent pathogen to cause a global pandemic with socio-economic ramifications and implications. 

“There will be others. We must increase our level of preparedness and resilience. This proposed agency is a step forward,” Azrul said. – December 28, 2022.