PETALING JAYA, 5 February 2022: In conjunction with World Cancer Day 2022, MCIS Insurance Berhad (MCIS Life) has begun a one-of-a-kind community partnership with the National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM) through the sponsorship of a custom made mobile truck worth about RM400,000.
A fully customised vehicle measuring about 17ft in length and weighing around three-tonnes nick-named as the ‘Purple Truck’, it is expected to hit the roads in May 2022, making its way through various rural locations across Peninsular Malaysia.
The truck includes medical equipment and personnel made up of one doctor, two nurses and five volunteers, among others.
NCSM is all set to utilise this truck to kick-start its Covid-19 vaccination drive specifically targeting senior citizens as well as the public with mobility limitations who are living outside of the Klang Valley.
“Every Malaysian, regardless of economic standing has equal rights to essential healthcare services, especially during the present time when access to Covid-19 vaccination is critical for those who are living in rural locations as well as those facing physical mobility challenges. We’re certainly humbled to support this initiative,” said MCIS Life Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr. Prasheem Seebran.
This strategic partnership is well aligned with the life insurer’s brand promise of #PeopleHelpingPeople as Malaysia gradually recovers from the pandemic and has successfully implemented its vaccination programme reaching out to the vast majority of its urban population.
“We’re excited with this breakthrough partnership which stands as an example of how essential healthcare services can be inclusive of people from all walks of life. This initiative also paves the way for MCIS Life to showcase how it can play a bigger role in caring for the wellbeing of rural Malaysians,” said Dr Murallitharan M., Managing Director, NCSM.
The truck will be mostly deployed on-site to rural areas and locations with underprivileged community members, as vaccine take up amongst these groups, especially senior citizens, can be improved.
With the availability of its mobile truck, MCIS Life and NCSM aim to increase vaccine acceptability and uptake by these individuals either through group counseling or educational sessions.
It will also offer pre-vaccination assessments, counseling and consent taking, as well as administration of vaccination and post vaccination observation to look out for any Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI).
Outside of the vaccination programme, the Purple Truck will also be a ‘Health Education Awareness and Mobile Cancer Health Screening Truck’ to provide community outreach screening, and will focus on the top three cancers in Malaysia - breast, cervical, and colorectal.
“NCSM, which has worked for over 50 years in these aspects of cancer control, believes cancer screening trucks outside of Klang Valley are crucial, as they would help to bridge the gap that exists between individuals and the access to treatment,” added Prasheem and Dr Murallitharan, jointly.
Over the next 5 years, the Purple Truck along with the mobile team is expected to travel across various states in Malaysia, serving underprivileged, rural, remote, and Indigenous (Orang Asli) communities in particular, through a series of 20 minute sessions targeted to the community teaching them specific skills on improving their health and reducing their risk of diseases as well as sample pocket talks which include teaching breast self-examination (BSE), testicular self-examination (TSE) and others.
Other than that, community residents would also be provided with free height, weight, BMI, blood pressure and general wellness screening.
