KUCHING: A legislator wants action taken for the 93 malfunctioned ventilators supplied by a company to the Ministry of Health (MoH) during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Auditor-General (AG) had exposed in his annual report yesterday (Feb 16) that the faulty equipment were among the 136 ventilators supplied to MoH between 2020 and April 2022.
MP Bandar Kuching Dr Kelvin Yii said not only public funds were wasted, but patient care could also have been compromised or even led to deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic when ventilators were scarce.
He wants parties responsible to be held accountable, saying the issue must not be taken lightly or swept under the carpet.
“Based on the Auditor-General’s Report, Pharmaniaga Logistics was chosen to buy 500 ventilators during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. However, the company only managed to supply 136 ventilators and only 28 were usable – just 6 per cent of the government’s order – during a time of crisis, when at its peak, healthcare workers were struggling to find such life-saving equipment.
“This caused not only an estimated loss of RM13.07 million of funds, but more importantly, contributed directly to possible loss of lives that could have easily been avoided if the healthcare workers had the required medical equipment at that time,” he said in a Facebook post today (Feb 17).
He said the ventilators were vital during the pandemic, and the “negligence not only caused wastage of public funds, but more importantly may have compromised the quality care of patients which may have even caused loss of precious lives”.
“We can never forget, especially during the peak wave of Covid-19, with many hospitals in the country struggling to keep affected patients alive amid shortages of staff, oxygen supply and medication.
“Wards were full, while equipment like ventilators and oxygen canisters were insufficient. Some medical professionals were put in the impossible position to prioritise certain medical equipment, including ventilators for certain patients over others, which would have definitely affected the quality of care for other patients,” he said.
