COVID-19 among reasons for termination of Malaysian Field Hospital operations in Cox's Bazar

The operations of the Malaysian Field Hospital in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh were ended early following several factors, including the spread of COVID-19 in the country, said Chief of Defence Force Gen Tan Sri Affendi Buang.

Besides that, he said, the services of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) medical personnel were more needed in Malaysia to contain the pandemic here.

“At the same time, the situation there (Cox’s Bazar) is stable and there was a significant drop in the number of disease cases and emergency injuries, as well as the increase of other field hospitals in the refugee camp,” he told Bernama in a special interview in conjunction with 87th MAF Day, recently.

The Malaysian Field Hospital at the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar was set up in 2017 to cater to the needs of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled to southeastern Bangladesh following the conflict in western Myanmar.

However, the operations were discontinued early and all staff in the hospital were brought back to Malaysia on March 26.

Affendi said the hospital had managed a total of 108,038 cases including surgeries and childbirths.

“The operations of the Malaysian Field Hospital were recognised by the World Health Organisation as the best Level 3 Field Hospital in Cox’s Bazar, and it also became the centre of reference for other hospitals in Cox’s Bazar,” he said.

Meanwhile, Affendi said a total of 1,361 MAF officers and personnel were involved in assisting the police to enforce the Recovery Movement Control Order via the Compliance Operations Task Force.

He said the MAF also assisted the police in roadblocks during the enforcement of the Targeted Enhanced Movement Control Order in Kedah and Perlis.

-- BERNAMA