By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, June 21: The Health Ministry (MOH) is studying the implementation of a digital medical certificate (e-MC) system to tackle abuse, forgery, and identity theft involving medical practitioners by fake medical certificate syndicates.
According to Bernama, MOH minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said he had instructed the ministry’s digital health division to conduct the study to transition medical certificates to a more secure digital platform.
“A medical certificate (MC) can only be issued by a doctor or medical officer who treats the patient. This is very clear. This ethical misconduct is a serious issue, and the MOH will not compromise on it in any way.
“Perhaps this is also a clear signal for us to begin moving towards a digital or e-MC system. This is the way forward to minimise misuse,” he said at a press conference following a programme in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (June 20).
He was commenting on a case involving five individuals, including a nurse in Pahang, who were remanded to assist investigations into the sale and purchase of suspected fraudulent medical certificates, as well as the existence of the ‘Holiday Master’ website syndicate, which has allegedly been actively forging the names of doctors and private clinics since 2016.
Regarding the ‘Holiday Master’ syndicate, which was found to have stolen the professional registration numbers of private medical practitioners for profit, Dzulkefly said the case is currently under investigation by the Malaysian Medical Council.
Meanwhile, he also reminded the public not to use artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool for self-diagnosing illnesses, particularly high-risk chronic diseases such as cancer and heart conditions.
“I urge anyone experiencing health problems to seek immediate consultation from medical practitioners, whether in the public or private sector, at general practitioner (GP) clinics, government clinics, or public hospitals. Do not shoulder it alone.
“We cannot rely on a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach based on AI. No matter how advanced AI technology becomes, it should not be treated as the ultimate source for making medical decisions, whether for screening or confirmation purposes,” he said. — DayakDaily
