S7 

SYMPOSIUM  

Symposium 1: Post COVID-19 World 

 

Post COVID-19 World (Health) 

 

Mohammad Farhan Rusli 

 
The COVID-19 pandemic that landed on Malaysian shores in January of 2019, was an event that is 

unbelievable, unexpected, ill-prepared and extremely underestimated. The pandemic exposed cracks 

and fractures that exist in our healthcare system and showed how fragile and vulnerable our public 

health infrastructure is. As Malaysians soldier on to what seems a knee-level muddy struggle in health, 

economy, and social well-being in a post-COVID-19 world, one must note that we must adapt and 

prepare in order to be resilient and be on-standby for future pandemics should they hit us again. 

Herewith lies the 5 pillars – digitalization of the healthcare system, integration of public health and 

clinical care, inter-agency collaboration, effective risk-communication, and most importantly, effective 

and strong governance. The first pillar focuses on the need to rapidly deploy and create a digital 

ecosystem that has a strong UI/UX base, both modifiable and adaptive in nature that is robust in facing 

any new developments in pandemic and public health challenges. The second pillar addresses the need 

to bridge the gap between public health services and clinical care for a seamless patient experience. The 

third pillar is the way forward on cutting through the bureaucracy that hinders effective implementation. 

The fourth pillar details the need of keeping order in chaos, enabling the people to understand and 

absorb trustable, reliable and accurate information. The fifth pillar is the cream of them all, where 

governance of the future will capture and effectively prepare the nation for a post-COVID-19 world 

with key policies, regulations and readied workforce. 

 

Keywords: public health, digitalisation, pandemic, COVID-19 

 

 

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Correspondence to: Public Health Medicine Specialist, Department of Community Health, 

International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuliyyah of Medicine, IIUM Kuantan Campus, Jalan Sultan 

Ahmad Shah, Bandar Indera Mahkota, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. Email: farhan@iium.edu.my  

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31344/ijhhs.v6i0.397

mailto:farhan@iium.edu.my