PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) says the MySejahtera application is no longer as useful as Malaysia begins transitioning to the endemic phase of Covid-19 from April 1.
In a statement, MMA president Dr Koh Kar Chai acknowledged that contact tracing would have been impossible at the height of the pandemic if not for the app, though it may have “outlived its usefulness”.
“With the large numbers of positive cases within and surrounding us, contact tracing will not be adopted on a wide scale as it will not yield the expected results.
“With high transmissions of Covid-19 in the community, the scanning feature of the MySejahtera app for the purpose of contact tracing is no longer as useful as it was in the earlier phases of the pandemic,” he said.
The MMA’s statement comes amid growing calls for the government to discontinue the use of the MySejahtera application.
Koh said MySejahtera could be put to better use by converting it into a database of sorts of users’ health records since most of the population had the app, though its contact tracing feature should still be kept for future use.
He pointed out that each MySejahtera account was linked to the user’s identity card and was non-transferable, but noted that the biggest concern was over the security of the data.
“Looking at what is being shared on social media about the ownership of this app, it is hoped that the government will continue to be proactive in securing public trust in the app.
“What is lacking in our healthcare structure is a centralised management system of the population’s health records,” he said, adding that personal health records were not accessible across different healthcare facilities and providers.
“The MySejahtera app may be utilised as an initial effort to have a health record that can be carried by each individual to allow for access by healthcare providers as and when needed.” - FMT
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