HBB to spread its wings
The clinic is KUALA LUMPUR: Hospitals Beyond Boundaries (HBB) plans to expand operations to rural areas of Sabah and Sarawak next year to help remote communities get medical care.
HBB co-founder and chief operating officer Dr Wan Abdul Hannan Wan Ibadullah said he and fellow cofounder Dr Mohd Lutfi Fadil Lokman had discussed the plan with the Health Ministry early this year and would set up mobile clinics to kickstart the project.
“The discussion was in late February to early March this year when (Dr) Lutfi and I had just finished our housemanship. There is no timeline yet but the idea was proposed at the time.
“We would probably get things started by the second quarter of next year and set up mobile clinics for marginalised communities,” he told the
The ultimate aim, however, is to set up permanent clinics.
Dr Wan Hannan said after the mobile clinics, the non-governmental organisation would move on to setting up clinics the way they first started running the community clinic in Cambodia.
He said the spirit of the project was to help minority groups and underprivileged communities improve their living standards.
“In Phnom Penh, our clinic that we began running in June last year serves everyone but focuses on the Cham minority group and other Muslims as the country lacks syariah-compliant clinics that serve halal medication and food.
“We began as an outpatient department and after we saved up
but rather a social enterprise.
enough from our profits, we upgraded the facilities to enable us to focus on maternal and child health,” said Dr Wan Hannan who is also a medical officer at the Institute of Medical Research Malaysia.
He said he had been frequenting the clinic in Cambodia on a monthly basis.
“HBB also organises volunteering trips to help out with our health screening campaigns there and to date, we have made more than 10 trips and brought over a hundred volunteers including university students.
“We have also included consultants and specialists from government hospitals who would give free consultation for patients there,” he elaborated.
The clinic, Dr Wan Hannan said, was not a charity project but rather a social enterprise.
“The profit from every three patients who paid for their treatment would cover the treatment cost of a patient who could not afford to pay,” he said.
On Dr Lutfi’s recognition as a United Nation’s Young Leader, he said he always knew that his best friend would receive such a recognition ever since they met in medical school.
“He always had great leadership skills and won several accolades when we were in university. He was also the Medical Students Association Malaysia president,” he said.
Dr Lutfi was among 17 young people named as advocates of change for the UN, He was selected as a UN Young Leader from a list of 18,000 nominations from 186 countries.