By Asmahanim Amir
Pix Ikhwan Hashim

HULU LANGAT, SELANGOR, 17 April 2015 – 89 students from the Faculty of Pharmacy, The National University of Malaysia (UKM) had been assigned to 30 families here to help raise the health status of rural residents through the faculty’s  second Community Services Operation (OPKIM) programme.

The students who were attached to the households for four days starting April 16 helped people in five villages using a mobile clinic system.

The students moved from house-to-house, giving health screenings like blood pressure tests, checking body weight and advice about how to use medicine properly.

President of OPKIM 2014/2015, Muhammad Haniff Ramli said besides raising  awareness about rural society, participants could also improve their communication skills and learn more about the way of life of village residents in that area.

“Students should take this opportunities to know more about the this community’s lifestyle as well as providing information about the importance of health and the proper use of medication,” he said while speaking at OPKIM’s launch ceremony.

Meanwhile, the representative of one of the villages, Kampung Dusun Tua, Ramly Yunan who took in four UKM students, expressed hope that the ties between students and villagers will continue with another programme.

“I hope that relationship will continue even after these students return to campus. Maybe we can make another programme like families coming to campus to take part in activities with the students,” he proposed.

He said besides providing health screenings, students also can give motivation talks to teenagers in that area about the importance of education.

“Nowadays youths are exposed to mobile devices and social media. But maybe they are not using the gadgets in the right way. So I hope the UKM students can motivate them to give more attention to education,” he said.

The programme was launched by Deputy Vice Chancellor (Industry and Community Partnerships), Prof Dr Imran Ho Abdullah and also present was the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Prof Dr Ibrahim Jantan.

Among the activities carried out during the programme were tidying-up and painting the surau, spiritual talks and community games.