YOURSAY | 'The health minister has to admit his mistakes and offer a public apology…'
Health minister gets roasted for misinformation over warm water tip
Anonymous 1797521485065377: Ministers should seek proper advice and guidance from medical specialists before shooting their mouth.
Their response should be well-thought-out and professional.
Such idiotic statements (that drinking warm water would flush the Covid-19 virus from the throat to the stomach where the acid there can kill it) coming out from the health minister is a disservice to the general public and would tend to confuse the people.
Open Mind: The health minister has to admit his mistakes and offer a public apology to all Malaysians via RTM. He has to come out and admit his error.
It is a serious error and if the people do what he says, Malaysia will be likely facing a Covid-19 tsunami.
Non Evader: Health Minister Dr Adham Baba does not seem to understand the meaning of infection caused by this virus.
These viruses attack our cells, penetrate them and use them to reproduce. They are not just attached to our throat and can be killed by “flushing” them out with warm water.
Anonymous_3c115f47: If you have coronavirus in your throat, you probably already have it in your airways. Even if drinking water can flush the virus from your throat, it will only clean your oesophagus and not your airway (the nose).
(If you get water into your airway and down your lungs, you will get other severe problems).
So, no. Drinking water doesn't do anything to prevent coronavirus infection.
Victim: This reminds me of our politicians in the early day of MH370's disappearance.
Top medical and health professionals should be talking about the technical part of the fight against the pandemic and the minister should focus on action plans, resourcing and providing support.
Look at how Singapore is communicating with its citizens and residents, and also to the international community.
True Malaysian: This new health minister should apologise for such misinformation at this challenging time to stop the virus from spreading. And he did it on national TV. What a shame.
With this type of minister in the government, how do you expect the virus to be contained? Replace him immediately with the previous health minister.
Anonymous 770241447347646: Everybody makes mistakes, especially those who are sitting in a hot seat and are under tremendous pressure to perform.
Warm or hot water does not stop Covid-19. There is no evidence to back up the claim. Warm water, on the other hand, can play a positive role in helping alleviate other health issues.
Let us move on and perhaps this outburst would make the minister realise that he is in the frontline as far as the media is concerned. The next time he makes any announcements, he should give serious thoughts to what he is going to say.
This is especially true for a backdoor administration as they have to work harder to prove themselves.
Anonymous 562531438261476: In this particular case, I support the health minister because in any viral infection, drinking lots of warm water helps in the recovery process.
We need to remain hydrated at all times to fight the infection. Somehow if the body remains hydrated, our immunity will be better.
Dato Ganesan: Hopefully what Adham was trying to say was "keep your body hydrated during this time of MCO (movement control order)".
I don't think he could be so stupid to consider warm water as a preventive tool with all that is happening around the world.
AskarCiberKe: Yes, we must drink water. But his statement that drinking water would flush the virus into the stomach and kill it reveals that he is clueless.
He doesn't even understand basic healthcare, and he's managing the healthcare system of the nation at a time when we are facing a crisis.
Anonymous 27364927267: You can watch what Adham said and judge it for yourself. It starts around 49:30 in this video:
XED: Universiti Malaya (where Adham got his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery [MBBS] degree), has been lowering its standards for years.
Please read the series of annual reports of the General Medical Council of the UK leading up to its decision to withdraw its recognition of UM’s MBBS degree. What a falling off it was!
Foundation Dean Professor TJ Danaraj had worked very hard to get the recognition. He brought in many fine teachers from various parts of the world. He toiled to develop a sound curriculum. The result of his work has now been undone.
This country is being dumbed down. The good ones are leaving and hordes of low-skilled people are flowing in, many of them illegally.
By contrast, many countries are welcoming in highly-skilled people. Malaysia is doomed. Other countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are fast catching up.
Doc: As I had predicted before; not having a health minister in this Perikatan Nasional (PN) government would be better.
The Health director-general (DG) and Health Ministry can and are doing a good job in fighting the Covid-19 epidemic. Leave healthcare to health professionals.
Quo Vadis: Perhaps the minister, who is a medical doctor, should be attending to the afflicted rather than sitting comfortably in front of a camera, spewing professionally and medically debunked gibberish.
He can be allowed to drink all the warm water in the world to keep himself well and safe in the wards.
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