PUTRAJAYA: Having steered the Health Ministry for the past year, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad acknowledged that his greatest challenge is to ensure a healthier life for all Malaysians.
The health minister took over the portfolio armed with a clear mission and kicked it off by tackling the smoking ban as well as the health screening programme, PeKa B40, for the low income segment.
Peka B40 seeks to tackle noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), especially among the underprivileged.
“Almost half of Malaysians are faced with NCDs, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.
“The programme caters to the B40 group aged 50 and above, providing medical devices, incentive to complete cancer treatments and transport aid to receive treatment at hospitals run by the Health Ministry.
“It is not merely a manifesto promise, but Peka B40 is a game changer in handling NCDs, with 2,443 people having gone for health screening up to April 29,” he said.
Dr Dzulkefly said this in a special interview in conjunction with the first anniversary of Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the 14th General Election in May last year.
He said premature death among Malaysians was 220 per 100,000 people, higher than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.
“The country’s premature death rate is alarming. OECD countries have 95 avoidable deaths per 100,000 population and even Sri Lanka recorded 116 avoidable deaths per 100,000 population.
“Premature deaths are due to complications from undiagnosed diabetes and hypertension,” he said.
Dr Dzulkefly said the smoking ban, which took effect on Jan 1, was part of his NCD campaign and it has proven fruitful.
It has seen more smokers looking to stop their habit, with the number of those pledging to quit increasing from the previous year.
The Health Ministry is giving priority to addressing the issue of expensive medicine and drug prices.
The cabinet has given the green light on the proposal to regulate drug prices.
He said the proposed mechanism to regulate the prices would be tabled at the next parliamentary session.
It would be tabled by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry and will come under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
The ceiling price of drugs and medicines in Malaysia will be set at the manufacturer and retail levels, but the ministry will refer to the prices of the items in Australia, Europe and the United States for guidance.
“The private sector may not be very comfortable with this, but we are forced to find a solution that fits all. We cannot be selective. If the private sector pricing is too costly for the public, then the government hospitals will be congested. So it has to be a winwin situation,” he said.
Another move the Health Ministry will look into is the formation of the Health Advisory Council, comprising doctors and health experts, to advise the ministry, especially on ways to strengthen the public-private collaboration in healthcare.
The Kuala Selangor member of parliament is also aware that one of the biggest challenges he faces is the medical graduate placements.
Dr Dzulkefly said that Malaysia had insufficient facilities to support medical training programmes.
“We are not able to sustain the influx of housemen due to facility constraints. It is not that there are too many doctors, but the lack of facilities to support the training in the 54 hospitals nationwide.
“The country would need more doctors, the target is to bring down the ratio from 520 to one doctor to 450 to one doctor.”
He said the ministry was working hard to resolve the problem despite the current financial constraint.
Dr Dzulkefly said in order to address the problem, they were introducing a pilot project involving virtual clinics, which would see patients’ appointments with doctors or medical officers done through teleconferencing. This would address the issues of long waiting period and parking space constraints.
“Unfortunately, these are not overnight solutions, and would require regulation and studies.
When the economy improves, I can tell you we can stop the moratorium on not engaging them.”
Dr Dzulkefly said by the end of PH’s first term as the government, Malaysia’s healthcare spending would have increased to 5.5 per cent of the GDP.
“I hope it will be almost six per cent when the term ends as it will be what a developed country’s public sector needs to spend on healthcare.
“Moving forward, we will also be expanding and in particular the private sector would drive the increment of healthcare spending,” he said.
Dr Dzulkefl acknowledged that Malaysia’s public healthcare was both underfunded and understaffed. This was despiteaRM2 billion increase in the 2019 Budget allocation for his ministry to RM29 billion, which was only 2.2 per cent of Malaysia’s GDP.
“The allocation for the health sector is not sufficient,” he said, adding that the lack of funds had caused a workforce imbalance between the public and private sectors.
He said there were only 40 per cent of experts in the public sector to provide services for 60 per cent of patients.
“There are not many experts, but they are the best in the government hospitals.
“When there are medical complications, they (private sector) will send the patients to the government hospitals,” he said.
Dr Dzulkefly remained optimistic in providing the best healthcare system for the people during this tenure as the health minister.