KUALA LUMPUR: The government remains committed to ensuring access to quality healthcare for all, as part of its aspiration of creating an inclusive Malaysian society, through an allocation of RM30.6 billion for next year.
“We will allocate resources to intensify preventive measures to manage the burden on public healthcare expenses,” Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said.
The allocation includes RM1.6 billion for the construction of new hospitals, as well as upgrading existing ones, namely, the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang, Kampar Hospital and Labuan Hospital.
“The expansion includes cardiology centres at existing hospitals such as the Queen Elizabeth II hospital in Sabah”, he said in his speech at the tabling of the 2020 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Meanwhile, Lim also announced a RM319 million allocation for the construction and upgrading of health and dental clinics, as well as healthcare personnel quarters' facility.
“New clinics will also be built in Setiu, Sungai Petani and Cameron Highlands as well as Kudat and Tawau in Sabah; as well as Long San and Sungai Simunjan in Sarawak.”
In line with the principle of the 3R culture; Repair, Replace, Restore - Lim said a total of RM227 million will be provided to upgrade medical equipment while RM95 million will be allocated for the renovation of medical infrastructure and facilities such as that at the Pontian Hospital.
He said an initial allocation of RM60 million will be provided to kickstart the pneumococcal vaccination for children, as promised by Pakatan Harapan (PH) in its 14th General Election (GE14) manifesto.
Lim said that RM59 million would also be allocated in collaboration with non-governmental organisations’ (NGO) medical ambulance services to acquire more vehicles, to ensure a better response time for emergency and trauma services.
“RM31 million is allocated for upgrading and maintenance of ICT (Information and communications technology) services which would include a pilot project for hospital electronic medical records."
RM5 million to provide mobile clinics in rural areas, especially for the Orang Asli community in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of achieving universal health coverage.”