Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad says patients with appointments on the extra holiday will be contacted for new dates as services continue.

PUTRAJAYA: Patients with appointments at government hospital specialist clinics or day treatment centres on the additional Aidilfitri public holiday will have their appointments rescheduled.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad stated that the hospitals would contact affected patients directly to inform them of their new appointment dates.

He explained that this measure ensures patient treatment and examinations can continue without disrupting services at government health facilities.

The announcement follows Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s declaration of an extra holiday, which will be either next Friday or the following Monday depending on the sighting of the moon.

Dzulkefly confirmed that all health facilities under the Ministry of Health will continue to operate as usual throughout the holiday period.

He added that healthcare personnel already scheduled for duty will remain at hospitals to provide essential services.

Monitoring of the public health situation will also continue via the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre at both state and national levels.

Separately, the minister revealed that 2,476 clients using the Cik Era ChatBot service quit smoking in the January to June 2025 cohort.

He described this as an amazing and very good figure, encouraging the public to use Ramadan as an opportunity to quit smoking for good.

The Cik Era ChatBot is an artificial intelligence initiative under the ministry’s JomQuit programme, providing support and guidance to help people stop smoking.

 The Sun Malaysia