KUCHING, July 15: The Sarawak government is looking into the possibility of utilising government clinics to ensure the rural population has a sufficient supply and access to Covid-19 self-test kits, said Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Michael Tiang.
“We will look into the possibility of using our Health Clinic channel to maybe supply it (self-test kits) if they do not have a private pharmacy outlet in their areas,” he told reporters after officiating at the Endemic Phase Medical Devices Regulatory roadshow held at the Sarawak Heart Centre, today.
Tiang was replying to a question regarding the lack of access to Covid-19 self-test kits for the rural population.
When asked about about the difference in prices of Covid-19 self-test kits between urban and rural areas, he said it was due to logistics cost.
However, he assured that as chairman of the State Public Health Committee (SPHC), they will be having a meeting soon to discuss the issue.
“I will look into this and make sure that fellow Sarawakians in rural areas will have equal access to test kits. We will see what we can do,” he said.
On another matter, when asked if the Ministry of Public Health, Housing and Local Government has any control over the price of houses in Sarawak, Tiang said his ministry is only involved in regulating developer licensing.
He explained that the ministry is in charge of strata management as well as regulating strata title properties.
“We do not deal directly with the housing prices. But what we can do is to continue to communicate with official bodies such as the Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda) to work out certain programmes,” he said.
Tiang pointed out that the ministry is also looking into some programmes to help people in purchasing homes, which is still in the evaluation stage and will be announced soon
“We hope that it can counter the property price hike,” he added. — DayakDaily
