KUALA LUMPUR: The government continues to ensure the healthcare needs of the people are taken care of next year as reflected in the increase in the Health Ministry’s 2019 budget allocation, from RM28.7 billion to RM30.6 billion.
Other initiatives include reducing the age limit for the healthcare protection scheme for the low-income B40 group, or PeKa B40, from 50 to 40 years old, allowing Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals for fertility treatment and increasing maternity leave from 60 to 90 days.
Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr N. Ganabaskaran said reducing the age limit for healthcare protection scheme for the B40 group is a good move, as it is important for people from the age of 40 to have yearly health check-ups.
“Efforts must be made to stress the importance of taking up insurance policies at a young age as premiums will be higher if insurance is purchased much later.
“Apart from taking steps to look after our own health, we have to be financially prepared for any serious illness that can be costly to treat. Insurance is a worthwhile investment that can save not just an individual, but also the family from financial issues.”
According to Dr Ganabaskaran, allowing EPF withdrawals for fertility treatment is timely, as more people are getting married later these days, and there are also more cases of non-communicable diseases and obesity, resulting in reduced fertility.
“While losing weight is the fastest and safest way to regain fertility, the withdrawals will allow couples to seek treatment. Increasing maternity leave is the way forward as the mother needs more than 60 days for bonding with her child.
“This will also encourage breastfeeding, which is good for newborns.”
Dr Ganabaskaran also welcomed the expansion of the MySalam initiative, by age (from 55 to 65), by disease (from 36 critical illnesses to 45), and by income (to cover up to an annual income of RM100,000).
“However, we will still need to look into a long-term solution. Malaysia will reach ageing nation status by 2030 when 15 per cent of our population will be 60 years or older. Healthcare costs may swell with the increasing healthcare needs of this age group. We hope the government will consider a National Health Insurance scheme as a long-term solution in financing healthcare.”
He said to support the local medical device industry, the government might consider introducing an initiative to encourage local producers to upgrade equipment and tools used in public clinics and hospitals, based on a minimum allocation of 30 per cent.
“Evidence-based decision making devices are needed in the healthcare space to assist physicians for shared decision making with their patients.”
According to Dr Ganabaskaran, MMA noticed that many countries, like China, Taiwan and South Korea, are heavily investing in portable, mobile and point-of-care devices.
This is the right area to invest in as there is opportunity for growth in research and development as well as innovation. This may also encourage investment from local entrepreneurs, which will further develop our talent pool.”
An allocation of RM227 million will be set aside to upgrade medical equipment and RM95 million to renovate infrastructure and medical facilities, like in Hospital Pontian.
Another RM1.6 billion will be allocated to build new hospitals and upgrade existing ones. The hospitals include Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Klang, Hospital Kampar, Hospital Labuan and the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Sabah Heart Centre.
Dr Ganabaskaran believed this was a welcome boost as many medical facilities that service a large percentage of the population have aged.
“On average, most of our hospitals are above 30 years old with many in serious need of upgrading.”
He added that another matter to look into would be the staffing for the new facilities that will be upgraded and built.
“Since 2015, the number of Health Ministry personnel has hardly grown despite the increase in services provided, as well as the marked increase in patient encounters.
“With the new infrastructure, it is important that the human resource is developed as well. For too long, the healthcare staff have been asked to deliver more than what is possible, and this situation can no longer go on.
“Any increase in infrastructure would need a concomitant increase in human resource allocation to ensure that we do not build ‘white elephants’ that cannot be fully utilised due to staffing issues.”
Dr Ganabaskaran said the announcement of 10,000 new positions for various healthcare staff positions in the Health Ministry was a welcomed move and, hopefully, would address some of the problems mentioned before.
“Of this number, the actual allocation for doctors has yet to be finalised, but we have been told that it numbers barely 1,000 positions.
“The total number of positions needed for healthcare staff would probably triple to ensure that we have no facilities that are understaffed, or left unused due to staffing issues.
MMA also noted positively that the government’s move to allocate RM60 million for pneumococcal vaccination for all children next year.
“An amount of RM319 million will be allocated to build and upgrade health clinics as well as dental clinics and quarters facilities. New clinics will be built in Setiu, Sg Petani, and Cameron Highlands, as well as Kudat and Tawau in Sabah, and Lon San and Simunjan in Sarawak.”
While there are many welcome suggestions for health, MMA felt there were no specific allocations for mental health, prevention of non-communicable diseases, and old-age care.
“There has been a cause of concern that women are not provided the assurance that they will receive full pay during maternity leave and can return to their original positions, and will not be discriminated against for future promotions and salary increases, as well as to increase paternity leave for men.”
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia Tourist Guide Association president and Malaysian Women Tourist Guide Association chairman Erina Loo said in terms of current medical facilities and specialists, Malaysia’s was much better than many other Asean countries.
“Malaysia has been promoting medical tourism for decades. However, what we need to focus on is to make people aware of data of successful medical cases.
“We need to provide a list of good medical specialists who are responsible and professional and to ensure foreign patients have access to the list.”
Loo said the cost of medical tourism had been an attractive factor compared with other neighbouring countries.
“However, at the same time, we need to make sure that we are offering a fair price.”