Official Launch of MySTEMI Foundation
MySTEMI Foundation was officially launched on 3rd October 2019, officiated by YAB Dato' Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women, Family and Community Development.
Also present at the event were YBhg Datuk Dr Hj Rohaizat Hj Yon, Deputy DG, Ministry of Health as well as Datuk Dr. Rosli Mohd Ali, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of MySTEMI Foundation.
The MySTEMI Foundation was formed to generate extra funds to support more patients with heart attack to gain access to primary PCI. In addition to providing funding, the foundation also serves to become a platform to educate and disseminate the latest information on coronary artery disease through innovative social medical programs and support the ongoing efforts of the MySTEMI Network.
Datuk Dr Rosli said, “20 to 25% of heart attack victims do not reach the hospitals in time. For the ones that do, Primary PCI is the standard of care for heart attacks, with minimal risk and excellent results. This procedure also saves lives when patients are treated in a timely manner.”
Dr Rosli added, “At the same time, considering the magnitude of the coronary artery disease in Malaysia, prevention and awareness programs are imperative. Therefore, it is MySTEMI Foundation’s aim to increase about the disease among Malaysians.
Dr Rosli conceded that one of the major challenges to this treatment is financial limitation. According to him, MySTEMI aspires to assist patients by providing funding for PCI through public donations. Each eligible patient can undergo this treatment at the current respective participating hospitals i.e Institut Jantung Negara, Hospital UiTM, Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (“UMMC”), Pusat Perubatan UKM and Hospital Serdang.
Dr Rosli informed the participants that MySTEMI Foundation’s pilot initiative took off on 1 August 2019 when the Foundation donated RM 60,000.00 to Tabung PPUMCare towards this cause. He expressed hope that from the support of the public and corporate sector, the Foundation’s goal is to increase public access to Primary PCI from the current 17% to 50% by 2025 will come to fruition.
He also took the opportunity to express his gratitude to some of the corporations who have also contributed to MySTEMI Foundation. To date, amongst some of the funding partners are: Abbott Laboratories Sdn Bhd, AstraZeneca Sdn Bhd, Medtronic Malaysia Sdn Bhd, B.Braun Malaysia, Or busNeich Medical Sdn Bhd
In lauding MySTEMI’s work, the Deputy Prime Minister urged more strategic partners to step forward to help make such procedures readily accessible to the financially challenged groups, especially the B40 community and vulnerable women patients who cannot afford such procedures. Recent trends shows that the rate of women suffering from heart attacks is on the rise. This concern was raised by YAB Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women, Family and Community Development during her keynote at a health seminar event entitled, “Women and Heart Attacks”
