The Health November 2020 | Page 4

MMA new president and office-bearers for 2020-2021

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The Health | November , 2020

| Local News |

Mah Sing , Luster join the rubber gloves bandwagon

With little signs of the global Covid-19 pandemic waning , more companies are moving into rubber gloves manufacturing .
Property developer Mah Sing Group Bhd and investment holding company Luster Industries Bhd are the latest listed companies to venture into rubber glove making .
Mah Sing ’ s wholly-owned unit Mah Sing Healthcare Sdn Bhd will set up 12 glove production lines in Kapar , Klang under Phase 1 . It will have an annual capacity of 3.68 billion pieces .
The first six lines will be ready in the second quarter of 2021 while the remaining six are expected to be onboarded by the third quarter of 2021 . The investment cost is RM150 million for Phase 1 .
Phase 2 of its expansion plan can accommodate another 12 production lines and double its annual capacity to 7.35 billion pieces .
As a comparison , the world ’ s largest glove manufacturer Top Glove Corporation Bhd makes 85.5 billion pieces a year .
Mah Sing said in a statement , it had commenced additional piling works to accommodate 12 units of new , high-speed glove dipping machines at its glove manufacturing factory in Kapar , Klang , to meet its targeted production date .
Mah Sing Group Managing Director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said the company was fast-tracking its gloves venture and will be able to tap into the expertise and know-how of its regional plastics business to synergize with the gloves business .
Meanwhile , Luster said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia that it was teaming up with Fortune Tac Sdn Bhd to set up a new firm called Glovmaster Sdn Bhd to manufacture rubber gloves . It will hold a 56 per cent stake and Fortune Tac controlling the rest .
Luster will invest RM50 million in the new joint venture . A piece of land in Banting , Selangor has been identified for the venture .
The company said the new manufacturing plant will house seven double former glove production lines with an annual production capacity of two billion pieces of nitrile gloves . Operations are expected to start in the third quarter of 2021 .
Fortune Tac has given a guarantee that the aggregate profit before tax for the first two years of the operations will not be less than RM200 million .
To fund its share in Glovmaster , Luster will making a private placement of 482.15 million shares at 12.5 sen each which will raise RM60.27 million . — The Health

Red Bean assistance programme by National Kidney Foundation

Datuk Dr Zaki Morad Mohamad Zaher , Chairman of NKF Malaysia
The National Kidney Foundation Malaysia ( NKF ) is raising public awareness on its Red Bean Assistance Programme ( RBAP ) to alleviate the economic burden of Chronic Kidney Disease ( CKD ) patients with anaemia , especially those from the B40 group . The program in collaboration with Roche Malaysia , was started on Aug 1 , 2019 .
Prevalence of CKD in Malaysia is 15.48 per cent based on a study in 2018 , with about 50,000 patients on dialysis nationwide . Most dialysis patients have anaemia ( deficiency of red blood cells ) and it gets more severe as the disease progresses .
Kidneys make erythropoietin ( EPO ) that stimulates the body to make red blood cells . Unfortunately , the level of EPO is reduced among those with damaged kidneys . Low EPO levels leads to anaemia .
The RBAP will relieve the financial burden for CKD patients with severe anaemia by providing them with partially or fullyfunded Erythropoietin-Stimulating Agent ( ESA ) treatment . ESA signals the bone marrow to produce more red blood cells .
“ Kidney patients need long-term treatment and the cost to sustain dialysis is high , especially for those with renal anaemia . While the burden is difficult to bear for most patients , the hardest hit are those from the low-income group .
“ NKF provides support and treatment at our 27 centres nationwide with more than 1,700 dialysis patients to manage .
“ Through this innovative , co-payment programme , the cost of the patient ’ s ESA treatment is co-shared between the patient , NKF and Roche ,” said NKF Chairman Datuk Dr Zaki Morad .
The Ministry of Health ( MoH ) has lauded this corporate responsibility initiative by NKF and Roche Malaysia , highlighting the well-being of kidney patients as an important priority .
The programme is expected to benefit more than 600 patients for the first year and 1,000 for the next two years .
Members of the public who are interested in contributing towards NKF ’ s efforts for its dialysis patients can find out more through NKF ’ s website at www . nkf . org . my or call 03-7954 9048 ext . 218 / 207 . — The Health

Dutch Lady ’ s brand new look and improved recipe

Dutch Lady , the No . 1 dairy brand in Malaysia has refreshed its entire range of Dutch Lady Liquid Milk and Family Milk Powder with a brand new look and improved recipe .
According to SEANUTS I and the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 , Malaysia is plagued by the dual burden of undernutrition ( stunting ) and overnutrition ( obesity ) among children and some sections of the adult population . With this in mind , Dutch Lady is committed in fulfilling the purpose of nourishing Malaysians , in line with the nation ’ s National Health Agenda .
As a market leader in the industry , the new and improved Dutch Lady is paving the way for the protein category to address the dietary imbalance among Malaysians and help close the nutritional gap . The new Dutch Lady products offer an improved recipe and meet the Malaysian Healthier Choice criteria for dairy category , which cover standards such as calcium and sugar content with a requirement of zero added sugar in plain milk .
MMA new president and office-bearers for 2020-2021
Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy has been officially appointed as the Malaysian Medical Association ( MMA ) president following its first-ever virtual annual general meeting recently .
Dr Subramaniam , who replaces former MMA president Ganabaskaran , who now holds the role of immediate past president , said his focus would be looking into current issues faced by the medical fraternity and to work closely with the government in finding solutions .
“ I am looking forward to working closely with our Private Practitioners Section ( PPS )
“ Our Dutch Lady liquid milk has always been a firm favourite among our Malaysian consumers and we ’ re so excited to share our latest new look and improved recipe here first . As part of our 140-year Dutch dairy heritage it is our mission to continue serving our consumers with high quality milk with nutritious dairy goodness to keep Malaysians healthy and resilient especially during these difficult times ,” said Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad Managing Director , Tarang Gupta . — The Health
and Section Concerning House Officers and Medical Officers ( SCHOMOS ) and all the newly elected office bearers to resolve issues faced by our colleagues .”
Also elected for the MMA new 2020-2021 term were Dr Koh Kar Chai ( president-elect ); Dr Thirunavukarasu Rajoo ( honorary general secretary ), Dr Vasu Pillai Letchumanan ( honorary general treasurer ); Dr Arvindran Alaga and Dr Kevin Ng Wei Shan as honorary deputy secretaries while Dr Vijay Ganasan was elected as SCHOMOS chairman and Dr Sivanaesan Letchumanan as PPS chairman . — The Health