Health Digital Technologies Sdn Bhd (DoctorOnCall) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bumiputera Tourism Operators Association of Malaysia (BUMITRA Malaysia) to facilitate and increase health vaccination amongst Muslim pilgrims who are going for their Hajj or Umrah in Saudi Arabia.
As part of the MoU, DoctorOnCall will provide a platform for pilgrims to make inoculation appointment bookings. The platform will be available to pilgrims who make pilgrimage travel plans with participating travel agencies nationwide under BUMITRA.
The pilot phase of the vaccination drive kicked off in June focusing on Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Phase Two is set to commence from late July onwards, covering the whole of Malaysia.
The DoctorOnCall platform will act as an online database of healthcare providers that offer vaccinations across Malaysia. The vaccinations offered through DoctorOnCall will include meningococcal, influenza and Covid-19.
However, with the Ministry of Health (MoH) urging Malaysian pilgrims to include the pneumococcal vaccine as part of their inoculation to increase protection against serious and potentially fatal pneumococcal infections, DoctorOnCall will be placing greater emphasis on pneumococcal vaccine providers so that more pilgrims will have access to the vaccine.
Hazwan Najib, Director and Co-Founder of DoctorOnCall, said: “With the resurgence of religious tourism as we enter a post-pandemic world, overcrowding conditions in places of worship are inevitable. This makes pilgrims more susceptible to infectious diseases.
Harun KC Ahmmu, President of BUMITRA Malaysia, said that the health and safety of Malaysian pilgrims are at their core, and they looked at continuously improving ways and identifying methods for pilgrims to take better care of their health during their pilgrimage journey.
“Together with DoctorOnCall, our pilgrims will be empowered with the necessary vaccinations and better awareness and knowledge about these transmittable diseases.”
The MoU signing ceremony was held on June 9, 2022 between
Hazwan Najib and Harun Ahmmu. — The Health
