PUTRAJAYA: Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa has confirmed that the ministry is ready to send a medical aid team to Gaza, Palestine.
She said the ministry has opened the application for its staff who are ready to volunteer themselves to be deployed there should the green light be given.
"We have already opened an online application form for any of the health personnel who are ready to be sent there.
"However, we currently do not have the exact amount of who had applied to be in the medical aid team but we are waiting and working closely with authorities such as the Red Cross, Mercy Malaysia and other relevant government agencies.
Zaliha also said that the medical aid team that will be sent to Gaza will have to undergo training, focusing on their preparation in operating in a war environment.
"This training of course is to prepare them when they are facing a war."The training is from the personal standpoint, preparing them physically, mentally and emotionally in facing the situation there," she said during a press conference after attending the ministry's Integrity Day, here.
Also present were the ministry's deputy minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni, health director-general Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Deputy Chief Commissioner (Operations) Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya.
She added that it would complement the health personnel's preparedness, who have the clinical know how in treating the victims there.
On Monday, the Health Ministry in a statement said that it is ready and has identified the medical aid team that can be deployed to the Gaza Strip.
The ministry, however, said the team could not be deployed yet because it has not received the green light due to the current war situation in the area.
It added that the team's deployment will be made through the cooperation of the Foreign Ministry and other public agencies, as well as coordination by the International Red Crescent Movement.
