by AZREEN HANI / graphic by MZUKRI MOHAMAD
PROTECTHEALTH Corp Sdn Bhd said it will not compromise with any private medical practitioners (PMPs) and healthcare NGOs found to be in breach of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and policies set by the Health Ministry (MoH) and the firm.
It also encourages members of the public to also act as whistleblowers and report any suspicious or illegal activities to the authorities.
“This initiative can act as an effective deterrent to prevent fraud,” the company said in a statement yesterday.
The statement was made amid reports that several clinics nationwide were allegedly found to be involved in the sale and purchase of fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates.
Newly appointed Johor police chief Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said in a Bernama report that all the suspects, five of whom were buyers aged between 24 and 42, were nabbed last Monday and Tuesday following a report lodged by the owner of the clinic on Sunday.
He said the police was still of tracking down 30 other individuals who had bought the digital certificate without getting the jab, including a 44-year-old man believed to be the mastermind of the activity.
Prior to this, police have arrested six workers and the owner of a polyclinic in Gombak which allegedly issued fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates for a fee.
Selangor police chief Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed reportedly said the scam had been going on for two to three months.
“ProtectHealth will not tolerate any PMPs and healthcare NGOs under its supervision and will provide its fullest cooperation with the authorities should there be any related incident,” ProtectHealth said.
“Should any non-compliance be found, ProtectHealth will take the necessary action and may suspend the PMP and healthcare NGO concerned from conducting vaccinations in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NCIP).
“In addition, ProtectHealth’s medical audit team will conduct on-demand investigations should there be any complaint lodged or whenever ProtectHealth observes any data anomaly from our monitoring,” the company said.
It added that vaccines are only given to the PMPs and healthcare NGOs via a controlled mechanism by the Vaccine Storage Centre as per appointment counts issued by MySejahtera or the prepared line listing.
The vaccine administration records the vaccine serial number and both the identification of the vaccinee and vaccinator.
“ProtectHealth always renders the best services to all stakeholders in National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. All PMPs under ProtectHealth are registered with the Malaysian Medical Council and their healthcare facilities are licensed under MoH,” it said.
In ensuring that PMPs under ProtectHealth perform quality services and adhere to the SOPs set by the MoH and ProtectHealth, regular random audits are conducted on the PMPs and healthcare NGOs.