By: Nor Adilla Alfadzil
SERDANG, April 2 – The Minister of Health, Dato' Sri Dr. Adham Baba, has launched three books on COVID-19 published by the Institute for Social Science Studies (IPSAS), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
The three books entitled "Kepelbagaian Isu Pandemik COVID-19 dari Perspektif Kesihatan (Diversity Issues of the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Health Perspective)", "Kepelbagaian Isu Pandemik COVID-19 dari Perspektif Sains Sosial (Diversity Issues of the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Social Science Perspective)" and "Pandemik COVID -19 Pengalaman Malaysia & Indonesia (COVID-19 Pandemic: Malaysian & Indonesian Experience)."
He said the COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the daily lives of the global community, including Malaysia.
Therefore, he said, the community cannot remain silent and must find ways to rise again to face the effects of this pandemic in a focused manner to remain prosperous.
"These books highlight the pandemic issues by compiling articles that cover various aspects of health, questioning the social context in curbing the spread of the COVID-19 and discussing the impact of the pandemic on Malaysian and Indonesian society in particular," he said.
UPM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Prof. Dato’ Dr. Zulkifli Idrus, said UPM and other partner Higher Learning Institutions (IPT) would continue to conduct research and produce publications to convey information to the community for the development of the country.
"The publications of these books are the evidence of the researcher's contribution in providing information and recommendations on preventive measures and management of public health based on empirical studies that were conducted in a language that is easy to understand and apply," he said.
Head of the Youth and Community Well-being Laboratory, IPSAS, UPM, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haliza Abdul Rahman, said she was called to produce the books with the theme of COVID-19 because it is her responsibility as an academic to delve into problems and issues related to society and the country.
“I produced three books with different titles at once because when we delve into issues related to COVID-19, it not only focuses on health issues but also on social issues. It is also important to involve our ASEAN partners as well as our close neighbour, Indonesia, which is also affected by the same issue,” she said.
The book "Kepelbagaian Isu Pandemik COVID-19 Dari Perspektif Sains Sosial" revolves around the diversity issues of the COVID-19 from the social science aspect in dealing with the pandemic in Malaysia, which involves various disciplines such as psychology, communication, management, economics, religion and environment.
The book “Pandemik COVID-19: Pengalaman Malaysia dan Indonesia” presents various issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic by a group of social researchers from Malaysia and Indonesia that describe the perspective of the pandemic, as well as its impact on youth, communities, small and medium enterprises, compliance with operating standards, changes in normative values, changes in the education system and the farmer groups.
The book "Kepelbagaian Isu Pandemik COVID-19 Dari Perspektif Kesihatan" was produced after the realisation of various health issues in Malaysia due to the pandemic, which is a compilation of a total of 18 articles on various aspects of health from authors of different backgrounds.
The publications of these books are expected to enrich the science and knowledge, including prevention and management methods related to the COVID-19 pandemic among stakeholders, especially relevant agencies, health workers, medical and health science students and society as a whole. - UPM
