Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai launched Monday the 1Malaysia medical service through the post specifically for sufferers of chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

With the service, patients will not have to come to hospital for their follow-up medication, Liow said.

"Their medicine will be sent to their house, office or any destination they choose in Malaysia by Pos Laju," he added.

Liow said the service followed the success of a pilot project at the Putrajaya hospital from October 2009 to December 2010 involving 1,054 patients. And this month alone, 296 have applied for the service.

The service has now been expanded to include the main hospital of every state as well as the Selayang Hospital, the Putrajaya Health Clinic and the Luyang Health Clinic in Sabah, involving 26 pharmaceutical units in all.

The cost of mailing -- RM3.50 in Putrajaya, RM5 in Peninsular Malaysia, and RM8 in Sabah and Sarawak -- have to be borne by the patients.

The service, which 74.7 per cent of patients interviewed in a survey consider necessary, will involve more health facilities in future. "The system is already there. It's just a matter of expanding it," Liow said.

As for the security of the medicine being mailed, Liow said that his ministry and Pos Malaysia "won't compromise" to ensure it was not tampered with.

source:  BERNAMA