Gen.T honouree Nadiah Wan, CEO of Thomson Hospital, on overcoming drug shortages, dwindling supplies and a global bidding war for basic equipment
“The next two to three weeks will be very crucial for Malaysia,” says the CEO of Kuala Lumpur's Thomson Hospital, Nadiah Wan.
“We’re worried because if the Covid-19 virus continues to spread uncontrolled in a population, even the best healthcare systems—like Italy’s—will completely collapse. If we don’t break this chain of infection now and flatten the curve, then this is something that could really happen in Malaysia.”
Globally, the number of confirmed infections passed 1 million on April 2, with the virus now impacting at least 180 countries and territories and leading to more than 53,000 deaths. Malaysia’s numbers have grown exponentially since its first case of Covid-19 in late January, now reaching 3,333 cases—the highest number in Southeast Asia—and 53 deaths.
In response, Malaysian authorities enacted a nationwide movement control order, effectively banning all visitors, barring residents from travelling overseas and closing all places of worship, schools and business premises, except for those providing essential services, until April 14.
The movement control order has come at a critical juncture, says Wan. “Within Wuhan, the mortality rate for Covid-19 was more than 10 percent, whereas outside of Wuhan it was actually closer to 2 to 3 percent,” she says. “The difference isn't because it's a different virus, the difference is because of the collapse of the healthcare system. And that’s what we’re worried about in Malaysia.”
Emergency Measures
Thomson Hospital currently runs a drive-through testing system for Covid-19, screening and referring patients to government hospitals for treatment. Like many hospitals, they've taken a number of precautions to stem the spread of the virus. "Firstly, we set up a task force between the doctors and the hospital management to make quick decisions to pass policy, so that we only have one body that's making decisions. We also started doing Covid-19 screening tests as early as February, and now we're doing payment transactions online so that we can reduce that contact risk too."
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