Health inspectors also unsung heroes in COVID-19 battle

This manpower comprises the assistant environmental health officers or health inspectors who have emerged as unsung heroes, just like the other frontliners such as the doctors, nurses and police, at this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stephenson Ngumbang, 68, happily retired as a senior assistant environmental health officer, is proud to have been a member of this workforce.

"If you see clean streets, clean markets, a clean environment and a healthy community, that is the job of our health inspectors," he said, recalling his working life.

He said many people do not actually know what health inspectors do.

"They play a major role in the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases. These officers are appointed and authorised by the Ministry of Health and the local councils to enforce public health laws and regulations," he told Bernama in an interview.

Stephenson said they are actually the real frontliners as they are always the first to be on the ground to investigate and trace those affected by any disease while, at the same time, they protect the healthy people in the community from getting infected

"They work hard with COVID-19 control teams to break the chain of transmission through case investigation, contact tracing, case isolation, monitoring and enforcement of public health laws and regulations.

"The health inspectors look after and protect healthy people from diseases while the sick are under medical care," he said, adding that the ailments include malaria, dengue, typhoid and rabies as well as food poisoning.

These health inspectors are fully trained personnel and are empowered to take the necessary action against those who do not abide by the public health laws and regulations, he said.

"They also make sure that the drinking water we consume every day is safe, through drinking water sampling. They are also the ones who go down to the villages or communities to advise them to practise healthy living through education on good personal hygiene, food hygiene, food safety and good environmental sanitation practices," he said.

He said the health inspectors also advise the community on proper waste disposal and maintenance of good sanitation.

Stephenson said the health inspectors are also stationed at ports, airports and Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Security (CIQS) complexes to monitor and check on food items brought into the state.

"They are also the people who make sure food outlets are always clean and safe. They go to the markets to check and take samples to make sure food and drinks sold at the markets and food shops are safe to consume. They are also the ones who ensure eateries are free from the hazard of cigarette smoke and pollutants," he said.

They also visit farms to advise farmers on safe ways to use pesticide and fertiliser, he said.

Stephenson explained that the health inspectors at the local councils also vet building plans to ensure that they comply with the building and drainage bylaws.

Recalling the period of the 60s and 70s, he said health inspectors had to travel to every nook and cranny of Sarawak to educate village communities on how to build sanitary toilets - either pit or pour-flush types - in the villages to improve sanitation and construct gravity-fed water systems.

"We went to the ground, moving around by longboat and land-cruiser and even on foot to rural areas to prevent the spread of communicable diseases which were common in those days," he said.

In 1960, the Health Department implemented the Rural Health Improvement Scheme to improve sanitation in the rural areas. Sanitation facilities were almost non-existent at that time, leading to the frequent outbreak of communicable diseases.

"Under the rural water supply programme, we also went to the villages in the rural areas to supervise and help the villagers to construct their gravity-fed water supply systems.

"Imagine we had to climb steep hills and cross valleys to build the dam and fix the pipes right to the houses in the villages," said Stephenson.