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BRUNEI must continue to promote engineering and technological advancements for the healthcare industry in order to develop innovative solutions to treat diseases better, said a senior government official.
Dr Hjh Norlila Dato Paduka Hj Abdul Jalil, the deputy permanent secretary (professional and technical) at the Ministry of Health, said smart technology plays a crucial role in the field of healthcare and contributes to improving standards all over the world.
Brunei's national health focus is now on strengthening the prevention of non-communicable diseases, which is growing at an alarming rate in the Sultanate, she said yesterday during the opening ceremony of the third International Conference of Engineering Technology (IET) Brunei.
"We are all very aware of how smart technology has been used in the development of smart medical equipment to diagnose and treat non-communicable diseases better," Dr Hjh Norlila said in her opening speech.
"What I am most keen to see is how scientists and engineers can come up with really innovative solutions for the prevention of diseases."
She pointed that smart technology can be used as an enabler for more effective health promotion and healthy lifestyle initiatives, which can be applied in everyday appliances such as smartphones.
"For this to happen in the Bruneian setting, we need well-qualified local professional engineers and technologists. We need to develop our human resources in engineering, technology and innovation," the deputy permanent secretary said.
More educational and professional courses focusing on other professions in healthcare, apart from medicine and nursing, must be made available and accessible locally, she stressed.
Such courses must include bio-medical engineering, as an increase in the number of bio-medical engineers can contribute positively to the development of the healthcare industry in Brunei.
"I hope that IET Brunei will continue to promote engineering and technology not only in general, but also for the healthcare industry especially for the bio-medical profession," she said.
Healthcare in Brunei has evolved tremendously, said the deputy permanent secretary, citing the Bru-HIMS (Brunei Darussalam Healthcare Information Management System) as an example of the usage of smart technology in the Sultanate's healthcare system.
Launched last week, Bru-HIMS is an integration of various systems of management of patients' information on medical services and health.
The deputy permanent secretary said that Brunei will be one of the few countries in the world which will have all of its healthcare facilities within its national service to be linked electronically. The system has the potential to further revolutionise healthcare services and improve patient outcomes in the future.
"Evidence from other countries have shown that systems such as Bru-HIMS can improve significantly the quality of patient care, in particular patient safety, as well as improve operational efficiency," she said.
Themed "Smart Technology and Beyond", the two-day conference signifies the persistent effort of IET Brunei in promoting advancement in engineering and technology while cultivating a culture of professionalism among the engineers and researchers.
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