KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), in collaboration with the Health Ministry, will launch a pilot project using drones to deliver medicines in Tawau, Sabah, around September or October, expanding the role of the National Information Dissemination Centre (NADI) in healthcare delivery.
MCMC NADI Office head Dr Mohd Arif Adenan said the initiative, under the NADI Smart Services programme, is expected to benefit residents in about 12 villages, particularly those in rural and remote areas who face difficulties obtaining regular medicine supplies.
He said the project would be implemented with the cooperation of the Health Ministry, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), the Sabah government and several other agencies through a whole-of-government approach to ensure smooth and safe operations.
“The programme will help reduce the burden of travelling to obtain medicines, while saving both time and transportation costs, especially for patients living far from hospitals,” he told Bernama.
He said a Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) study found that residents in Sabah’s interior often travel between 20 and 30 kilometres to reach hospitals, making transportation costs one of the biggest barriers to accessing healthcare services.
Mohd Arif said MCMC would consider expanding the initiative to other areas with similar needs if the pilot project achieves its intended objectives.
He said medicine delivery by post is already available through Pos Malaysia, with NADI serving as a one-stop collection centre for medicines within local communities.
“We also provide basic health screening services at NADI centres for patients requiring regular monitoring, reducing the need for routine hospital visits for checks such as blood pressure monitoring.
“If patients record abnormal health readings, NADI will immediately connect them with the relevant hospital for further assessment, while the initiative also helps reduce travelling costs and ease congestion at healthcare facilities,” he said.
He said the initiative reflects MCMC’s efforts to transform NADI from a digital connectivity hub into a community centre offering wider access to essential government and public services.
On NADI’s future development, Mohd Arif said MCMC has no plans to increase the number of physical centres as the one-state constituency, one-NADI policy has ensured every state constituency nationwide has at least one centre.
Instead, he said the focus is on expanding NADI 2.0 virtual services to reach communities located further away, following a Merdeka Centre study showing that most users live within one to two kilometres of existing centres.
He said MCMC is nevertheless studying the possibility of extending the NADI network to locations without such facilities, including military camps and police barracks, where demand for digital services and community development programmes has been identified.
According to him, international recognition from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), including the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Award in Geneva last year and designation as the 16th ITU Digital Transformation Centre this year, has created new opportunities for global collaboration.
NADI also plans to introduce more micro-credential courses in collaboration with international institutions and organisations such as Cisco and Hewlett Packard (HP), enabling participants, particularly rural youths, to earn industry-recognised certifications that enhance their employability, he added. — Bernama
