Dear Friends,

Herewith are some of the updates from the FIAMC Membership Committee.

(1) Formation of the Australian Catholic Medical Association.The Australian Catholic Medical Association was officially formed at end of 2019. The Australian Bishops conference had supported and endorsed the formation of the Association.This Association consists of the various States in Australia viz. : New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.Dr. Eamonn Mathieson is the President of the Australian Catholic Medical Association.He is ably assisted by the following doctors:-Cate Crowley NSW,Joseph Turner,Elvis Seman SA,Randy Juanta SA,Luke Mclinden QLD andTerrence Kent QLDMeanwhile the following doctors from New Zealand have indicated their interest in Joining FIAMC:Christine Noetzil and Joseph and Cushla Hassan.This is good news because previously the New Zealand Doctors had not been active.

(2) 17th Asian Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (AFCMA) Congress 2020 Malaysia.Unfortunately due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Congress Organising Committee has decided to postpone the Congress to early 2021.An Announcement will be made later after the situation is clearer .Some AFCMA Member Countries are pleased because they are keen to attend the Congress.

(3) The Pandemic COVID 19.Everyone knows about the pandemic COVID 19 because it has affected everyone’s lives in some way or other. The COVID 19 started in Wuhan China in Dec 2019. Today is 01 May 2020 and the  COVID 19 has become pandemic.Whilst China has recovered with no new local cases positive cases recorded, practically every country has now been affected albeit differently.Sadly one million people has been affected by the Virus worldwide and thousands  and thousands of innocent people have died and many more have lost their jobs and are hungry because they have no money tobuy food.

The U.S., Italy,Spain, Germany and Russia are the countries in the Western World badly affected by COVID 19.Locally Singapore has the most number of case in Asia after China. It had 16,169 cases on 30/04/2020. This was due to a sudden surge in cases due to the 200,000 foreign workers who were housed   in cramped dormitories.

Indonesia which has a large Muslim Community of 200 Million has just seen a sudden surge in their number of positive cases and deaths.Malaysia which has a relatively small population of 31 Million people has 6,000 positive COVID 19 cases and 100 deaths. It has 14 cases on ventilator and 70% of their cases have fully recovered and been discharged.

The situation  in Vietnam seems to be well controlled with only 300 positive cases and no deaths.During this pandemic every country has taken measures to prevent the spread of the Virus like wearing face mask, using hand sanitisers , frequent hand washing with soap and water, wearing face shield, gown and gloves or PPE especially for Hospital and front line workers and social distancing of at least one metre. MCO or Movement Controlled Order or even Curfew has been implemented to prevent people from going out for fear of spreading or catching the Virus from someone else.

Each government has also introduced nasal and oro-pharyngeal throat swabs to detect the VIrus .Positive cases will be admitted to Hospital fot treatment whilst suspected cases or people returning from overseas are required to be quarantined for 2 weeks to ensure they are o.k. before being allowed to join the community.

How to help the Needy during the MCO Period.In Malaysia we have been having a partial lockdown for the past 6 weeks called EMCO or enhanced movement controlled order whereby one can only go out for essential things only eg see the doctor or buy food.This has been going on for the past 6 weeks since 18 march 2020 when the Order was first enforced.

The Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia (CDAM) has not been able to run their free clinics for the Needy during this EMCO Period.We had been providing free medical treatment to 3 different Outreach Program Groups called a/ Samaritan Home for the Homeless and the Needy in the Kuala Lumpur City centre in Jalan Pudu .b/ Petaling Jaya Migrant Centre for Myammarese refugees of the Chin Community and c/ Jotong JRCC or Jotung Roman Catholic   Community housed in a low cost area shophouse in Kuala Lumpur. However we have found an ingenious way to provide food for these 3 Centres by ordering food from food Companies that offer and deliver food using vans.So far we have sent 5 weekly donations to our 3 Centres consisting of fish, chicken, prawns and fresh vegetables.Sister Fatima is in charge of the Samaritan Home for the Homeless and the Needy.

During this MCO Period she has used the food and essentials provided by CDAM and other NGOs to provide food cooked, prepared and packed by her and her 8 volunteers (called Missionaries by her) to give to the Needy daily.Each day they pack 250 packs. Each pack  of goodies consists of rice, Chicken,Milo Drink, I Maggie Mee (Noodle) and  1 tin of Maggie Beans and are given to those who come to the Samaritan Home or will be sent to those persons who are unable to come or dare not come to collect it eg the refugees or drug addicts for fear of getting caught by the authorities.Incidentally for her work with the Homeless, Sister Fatima and her Volunteers need to have approval in writing from the local authority..At the end of the day Sister Fatima and her team will pray together for God’s Providence so that they can continue to help the community.

Who are the community that Sister Fatima and her Volunteers are helping? They consist of foreigners from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India Africa, etc…., Tourists stranded in Malaysia because of the MCO, Locals who have left their home for some reason or other and those people who have lost their jobs.It is indeed heartening to see Sister Fatima and her Team of Volunteers doing God’s work. We from CDAM are glad to be able to chip in during this prolonged MCO Period by donating to Sister Fatima’s  Samaritan Home, as well as to the PJ Migrant Centre and the Jotung Catholic Community Centre.via our CDAM’s MCO PROJECT.We sincerely hope that our colleagues in FIAMC/AFCMA will also join in and give a helping hand to the Needy in their respective countries until we are out of this COVID 19 pandemic.

Please rermember what Jesus said in Mathew 25.: 25-26 “I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink…”

Thank you and God Bless us all! In Jesus,

 Dr. Freddie Loh

Chairman FIAMC Membership Committee.