KUCHING: The scanning capability of the MySejahtera app for contact tracing is no longer as useful as it was in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic due to significant transmission in the community.
According to Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Koh Kar Chai, as the country moves closer to the endemic phase of COVID-19, it’s time to consider putting a stop to the scanning of MySejahtera every time one enters a building, particularly once the transition phase is over.
“The usage of Mysejahtera enabled contact tracing during the peak of the pandemic, a feat that would have been unthinkable without the app.
“However, it may have outlived its usefulness as a contact tracing app. With the large number of positive cases within and around us, contact tracing will not be adopted on a wide scale as it will not yield the expected results.
“Because the MySejahtera app has been downloaded by a vast number of people around the country, from young to old, it may be put to better use.
“The contact tracing feature of the app should still be preserved as we will not know when the next pandemic will turn up,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He added that the app could be adapted to be used as a personal health record as it is already linked to individual IDs and is non-transferable.
However, this raises the issue of security of data.
“Looking at what is being shared on social media about the ownership of this app, it is hoped that the government will continue being proactive in securing the trust of the people in the app with the hope that it can ultimately be used in the management of health records in the move towards establishing an effective healthcare system for the country.
“What is lacking in the healthcare structure of this country is a centralised management system for the health records of our population.
“There is a need for an electronic medical record system that is secure and accessible by the healthcare providers in order that there is seamless care for the health of the people unlike now where many a time we see that healthcare records are not accessible across healthcare facilities or providers,” he pointed out.
Dr Koh added that the MySejahtera app might be utilised as an initial effort to have a health record that could be carried by the individual to allow foracces by healthcare providers as and when needed.
