Gov’t hospitals to reschedule patients with appointments on public holidays – Dzulkefly

Patients at government hospitals whose appointments fall on public holidays during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri period will be given new appointment dates.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said patients will be contacted by their respective hospitals on the new dates.

“For patients whose appointments fall on those public holidays, they will be contacted and given a new appointment date,” he said after launching the Cik Era initiative, a digital engagement effort aimed at supporting smokers who wish to quit.

Earlier today in Kota Kinabalu, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced an additional public holiday for Hari Raya Aidilfitri next week.

Anwar said if Hari Raya falls on Friday, the additional public holiday will be on Monday. However, should the holiday fall on Saturday, the additional holiday will be on Friday.

It was reported that the sighting of the Syawal new moon to determine the date of Hari Raya Aidilfitri will take place at 29 locations nationwide on March 19.

Meanwhile, Dzulkefly said government hospitals nationwide will continue operating as usual throughout the Hari Raya holidays.

“Operations at our hospitals will continue as usual, 24 hours a day. We work around the clock even during public holidays,” he said.

Dzulkefly said medical personnel scheduled for on-call duty would remain at work to ensure uninterrupted healthcare services.

He said monitoring of any health-related incidents that could potentially affect public health would continue throughout the festive period.

Dzulkefly said surveillance would be carried out by the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) at both state and national levels to ensure the situation remains under control.

On the Cik Era initiative, he said it complements the JomQuit programme, which has recorded encouraging results since its introduction in 2015.

“Through JomQuit, we have recorded a smoking cessation success rate of about 58.5 per cent. A total of 2,476 clients have successfully quit smoking, which is an encouraging achievement,” he said.

Dzulkefly said Cik Era functions as a communication and support platform that accompanies smokers throughout their journey by providing guidance and follow-ups.

He said between Oct 13, 2024, and Feb 3, 2026, the initiative recorded 9,200 communications with clients, with 9,349 individuals registered under the programme.

“Out of this number, 4,858 consultations were carried out to support smokers in their effort to quit,” he said.

However, Dzulkefly said 1,434 people indicated they were not interested in continuing, while 3,056 could not be contacted, reflecting the challenges in maintaining engagement throughout the cessation process.

Category: MJN enews