Message From the President ( July 2014 ) It gives me great pleasure to pen my inaugural message to update members on the developments of MDA. As the month of Ramadan is upon us, I would like to take this golden opportunity to wish all our Muslim members “Selamat Berpuasa” and “Selamat Hari Raya Adil Fitri” when the celebration begins in the month of Syawwal. And to everyone else, I hope next month is a productive and fulfilling one. It has been a busy first two months for me as the President, with so many important issues to deal with and as always, so little time! Several important things have occurred recently that we should be aware of. The deregistration notice from the Registry of Society,received on 12th June 2014 @3pm 12th June 2014 must be the saddest day in the history of MDA, just 12 days after my installation as the president of MDA, we received the deregistration notice ,dated 6th June 2014 from the Registrar of Society (WP). Hence all activities in relation to the MDA had to be suspended with immediate effect. The Hon Gen Sec and I soon made an appointment with ROS to clarify matters related to the de-registration. A small group of delegation from MDA managed to meet up with the Honorable Health Minister at the same evening to brief him of the unprecedented crisis and seek YB’s kind assistance in solving the issue. An appeal letter to the Minister of Home Affair was handed by hand via ROS office on the 16th June 2014. From the moment we received the deregistration notice from the Registrar of Society, the MDA Council and all the stakeholders had been working very hard against the clock to get MDA reinstated. Thank God, MDA’s status finally was reinstated on the 3rd July 2014. As promised to the DG of ROS, we will tighten up our financial policy and make sure that the same error does not repeat itself. As DG of ROS and the director of Selangor ROS Director stressed that ROS only acts upon receiving complaints from members, I truly regret the matter which should be resolved internally was brought to the ROS, no matter how innocent the intention was. I wish to thank all the stakeholders and individuals who had been lobbying for the lifting of the deregistration, especially PM, Health Minister, Principle Director of OHD MOH Dr Khairiyah, Datin Dr Nooral Zeila, Prof Dato Dr Hashim, En Saravanan Principle Private Secretary to YBKM, En Azman, Setiausaha Sulit MOHA, Dato Shahlan, Political Secretary to PM and those who worked behind the scene. On behalf of the Council, I would like to thank our members for their understanding and support during this difficult time. The Tragedy of MH 17 Crash and dental records On behalf of the MDA, I would like to offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the Malaysian Airlines MH-17 crash. The process of identifying victims of major disasters such as terrorist attacks or earthquakes is rarely possible by visual recognition. Comparison of fingerprints, dental records or DNA samples with ones stored in databases or taken from victims personal effects are often required to obtain a conclusive identification. Member countries which lost citizens in the MH 17 crash will also be requested to gather and send ante-mortem data in order for the victims to be identified as quickly as possible in order for them to be returned to their families. We assisted in sending an email blast ,on the request from the Forensic Odontology AM division, a confidential email to our members, requesting them to provide the dental record of victim of MH17 as ante-mortem data to assist in the identification of the victims body. We cannot stress more on the importance of maintaining complete and accurate patient records. This is a sign of quality care and an integral part of our duty to care for the patients. IMU Oral Health Awareness Week My first official duty was to deliver VIP Speech at the IMU Oral Health Awareness Week launch on the 5th June 2014. I am happy that IMU dental students are trained not only to provide quality dental care to the patients but also to promote good oral general health to the public. Their strong commitment to serve and giving back to the society is a good example of “Corporate Social Responsibility” MDA-GSK “Your Mouth Deserves Specialized Care’ campaign” Malaysian Dental Association (MDA) in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Sdn Bhd launched the “Your Mouth Deserves Specialized Care” Campaign on the 11 June 2014. The event was graced by Dr Khairiyah Abdul Muttalib, Principle Director of Oral Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia. The Mobile Dental Clinic will be running 20 sessions in key locations around the country to provide dental screening to more than 5,000 Malaysian. It aims to help detect conditions such as gum disease & caries. Concurrently, there will be a digital engagement campaign reaching out to 200,000 Malaysian for oral health awareness. The MDA GSK CSR Campaign was scheduled to run for 2 months, unfortunately the MDA deregistration had affected the running of the program. GSK had temporary stopped the campaign on the22nd June 2014 on the advice of their legal advisor. The campaign will resume once MDA deregistration by ROS is lifted. Mouth Cancer Awareness Walk 2014 MDA is pleased to be part of the organizing team of the Mouth Cancer Awareness Campaign 2014, which will be held at Waterfront, Kuching on 11th August 2014 from 3pm to 6.30pm. The VVIP for MCAW is the Honourable Health Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Dr Subramaniam.Expected participants are 500 to 1000. MDA has always been supportive to the Mouth Cancer Awareness Campaign; in fact we had successfully organized the Oral Cancer early detection workshop at the just concluded MIDEC 2014 in June. Dental Bill 2014 The Dental Amendment Bill 2012 which is at the AG Chamber now has been renamed as Dental Bill 2014. There are some components in the new Dental Bill 2014 that will affect all of us in our daily practice. These components are namely the mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD), the registration and regulation of dental therapists, and the provisions for the registration of dental specialist under a separate specialist division. Collecting CPD points annually is very important to us, as healthcare providers, but it is also a very challenging task to achieve. I do understand that it may be difficult for some of our members serving in rural areas to attend CPD talks or Dental Conferences, mostly held in cities. Today, most if not all of us are connected to the internet. We can have the convenience of sitting in our office or home and searching for information through the internet, we also can obtain new knowledge by attending study groups. Online CPD programs is one way for us to get those all important points and keep up-to-date at the same time. The Homepage Committee is working towards this direction to provide online CPD program to the members. MDA Promoting the Art and Science of Dentistry MDA has hosted and organized many international dental conventions annually and continues to do so, drawing many renowned speakers in their respective fields to share their knowledge with our dentists and with those from the Asia Pacific region. MDA and the three regional zones, namely the Northern, Southern and Eastern Zone have also been actively organizing Continuing Dental Education programs and workshops to help our dentists keep up to date with advances in Dentistry. This has allowed our patients to benefit from a higher quality of care. Dental Indemnity Insurance Our records show that a high percentage of General Dental Practitioners are not insured with the professional indemnity, and I would like to strongly advices members to get insured as soon as possible. With the increasing number of cases of complaints by the members of the public against dental practitioners, I cannot stress more on the importance of covering ourselves with the professional indemnity. This is crucial as dental indemnity insurance protects both doctors and patients in the case of an adverse event arising from dental care. The MDA has secured special rates with the Dental Protection Limited of UK. Please call the MDA Headquarters for further information. Most of the complaints received have arisen because of a breakdown of communication between the dentist and the patient. Make sure that you always inform your patient the nature of treatment you propose to do and the cost of such treatment and ensure that you deliver this treatment in a skilful and professional way. DPL Announcement to MDA/DPL member on the renewal of DPL Subscription We would like to inform MDA/DPL members that, the MDA cannot administer DPL transactions since July 1st 2014, as the result of MDA deregistration. We are returning all payments to the DPL by MDA members who can choose either to pay direct to the DPL in UK or hold on until the MDA is empowered by DPL UK to administer DPL transactions again. As MDA had already been reinstated on the 3rd July 2014, we expect to receive the go ahead again shortly. We apologise for this temporary disruption and inconvenience to all our esteemed MDA/DPL members. The mushrooming of dental colleges If the government fails to take immediate steps to curb the mushrooming of the dental colleges in the country, the profession of dentistry will be in a pathetic state. MDA had sent an memorandum to the Government 2 years ago that unplanned rapid rise in number of dental colleges in the country may create problems for new passing-out youngsters to find proper professional placements in future. Currently there are 15 dental colleges in the country with another 2 dental colleges on the approval list, making the total number of dental colleges in Malaysia 17. Out of which 11 are privately owned (AMIST, PIDC, MAHSA, IMU, MMMC, SEGi, Lincoln, VMIUC, AUCMS, QUEST) and 6 run by the government (UM,UKM,USM,UiTM, IIUM, USIM) Total number of yearly intake for local dental undergraduate students The Malaysian dental council ( MDC ) had agreed to increase the total number of yearly intake for local dental undergraduate students from 800 to 900. The council of Malaysian Dental Association (MDA) will write to the Malaysian Dental Council (MDC) to raise our concern of the continuing increase of dental undergraduates and dentists. The council feels that there should be a National Board Exam to evaluate their qualification, and we would be preparing the (data) statistics for submission to the MDC Accessible and Affordable Dental Treatment for Malaysians Oral Health is an integral part of general health that affects our overall well-being and quality of life. The MDA, as the representative body of the dental profession, has played a key role in supporting the delivery of oral healthcare services in Malaysia, working with the Dental Division, Ministry of Health as well as International Health Agencies such as the World Health Organisation and the Federation Dentaire International in formulating oral health policies and initiating and supporting nationwide initiatives. MDA will continue to work with Ministry of Health to ensure that dental healthcare remains affordable and accessible to all Malaysians. Ours members at private sector provide good tertiary dental procedures, such as crowns, dentures and root canal treatment at reasonable fees to the general public. This could help reduce waiting times at public hospitals and polyclinics. I have also commenced zone visits where I met with zone members to disseminate information on current dental issues and obtain feedback. It would be gratifying to hear a better idea of your needs and work towards fulfilling those that we are able to. MHTC ½ day talk on Dental Tourism the 22nd June 2014. Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, MHTC is an initiative under the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Its ultimate purpose is to promote and position Malaysia as a unique destination for world-class healthcare services. MHTC was established under the Ministry of Health Malaysia, bringing together the nations dual heritage of hospitality and medical innovation, highlighting Malaysia as the preferred healthcare travel destination in the Asian region. The purpose of MHTC is to streamline healthcare travel service providers and industry players in both private and government sectors so as to drive the industry to greater heights. Malaysia is gaining popularity as a destination for many in pursuit for quality and fast medical care at competitive prices. Malaysia Medical Tourism has been booming in the past few years, with Penang capturing more than 50% of the market. It is timely that Malaysia jumps onto the dental tourism bandwagon and accelerate gains from this niche industry. Participating Dental Providers MHTC Participating Dental Providers are Hospitals and ambulatory care dental centres. We hope that even dental clinics that are well-equipped and catered to receive and handle dental tourists are approved and registered to be a participating dental tourism provider in Malaysia. A selection committee consisting of representatives from both the private and government sector will evaluate and select these dental providers to ensure that the standard of service and quality dental care provided within the industry is continuously upheld. There is tremendous potential for dental tourism in Malaysia, but sad to say that to date, only 4 dental clinics or are registered under MHTC, and we would like to encourage our members in the private sector to benefit from the MHTC initiatives and programs. Incentives for MHTC Members There are many benefits for being a member of MHTC. Besides the exposure and benefits gained from the international marketing programmes organized by MHTC, its members will also enjoy special incentives accorded by the Malaysian Government for their efforts in promoting medical and dental tourism. One example is the Investment Tax Allowance (ITA). Our neighbouring countries like Thailand and Singapore has already captured a huge percentage of dental tourism market in this region of the world. I believe with proper planning and promotion through MHTC we can be a leader in dental tourism in this region of the world too. We have many well equipped dental surgeries and dental centres providing quality and affordable dental care. English is the second language in Malaysia and is well spoken in the country. Malaysian multicultural society and the beautiful scenery are also selling points for Dental Tourism. MDA Student Mentorship Program We will start MDA Student Mentorship Program, to train up future MDA leader. Under the program, dental student will pay a minimum fee to attend conferences organize by MDA, and at the same time have a hand-on experience to learn event organizing skill. At the end of the event, we will hold a reflective session to find out how much they have benefit from the program. The 36th APDC Dubai The Hon Gen Sec Dr Chow Kai Foo and myself cancelled our trip to Dubai to address the MDA deregistration issue. As the result of deregistration, MDA candidates, Dr Haja Badrudeen, Brig Gen Dato Dr Ilham and Dr Thomas Araham lost their eligibility to stand for election in the 36thAPDC. The 2014 FDI AWDC – New Delhi The registration fees is USD 500 ++, I will attend the FDI AWDC in New Delhi together with the President Elect, Dr John Ting and the FDI Liaison Officer Dr Chow Kai Foo, FDI past president Dato Dr Ratnanesan and FDI councilor Dato Dr How Kim Chuan .The subsidy for the general membership is RM1000/- per member, maximum 10 members. The news had been published on the MDA website since March 2014. MOU between MDA and MDSA The MOU between MDA and MDSA was signed at the MDA Gala Night on the31st May 2014. MDSA was represented by their President Md Hafizul Taufiq Zulkeple; and MDA was represented by your truly. GST MDA had registered for GST as our turn over is more than RM500K. GST will be imposed on the annual subscription, event registration fee, trade booths, property rental, and other services such as mailing service, selling of mailing labels. GST will not be imposed on DPL subscription and sponsorship. Dentist does not need to pay GST, but Dental Supplier has to pay GST. MDA had submitted a list of dental equipment and material to be exempted from GST, and the Ministry of Finance ( MOF ) is seriously considering of waiving GST for that. Thank You Dr. Teh Tat Beng President, Malaysian Dental Association
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 14:48:05 +0000
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