Dr Steven Chow, president of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations, Malaysia (FPMPAM) said existing issues that had been previously ignored have been brought to the fore by the pressure exerted by the pandemic.

“It is clear that we have not learnt and have not taken action from the many mistakes made in the past and present. Instead, problems were swept aside and left unaddressed year after year from the overproduction of doctors to the long-standing issue of healthcare inequity,” he said in a statement.

“We have become an example of how things could have been done in a better way. When put to the Covid-test, it cannot be denied that our healthcare system has failed.”

He recalled the proposed Royal Commission on Healthcare in Malaysia that was raised in 2017 at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Oration of the Academy of Medicine, which explained at the time why only such an inquiry could find holistic solutions to bolster the future of Malaysia’s healthcare system.

“Healthcare is a basic right of the rakyat. Having an equitable, effective and compassionate system is what is expected. It must be the duty of the government to deliver this at all times, especially so in a time of national calamity.”

Chow also took issue with the government’s handling of the crisis, headlined by “endless rounds of MCOs of various forms plus multiple knee-jerk fire-fighting measures,” introduced by the health ministry.

“We are constantly dismayed and disgusted to read about how our politicians and leaders have failed to deliver their share of what is needed, like a stable leadership that is collectively focused on solving the current crisis.”

“Instead, they have seemed more engaged in their own political survival and are happily dancing in and out of the country. They and their supporters display utter disregard for the rules and regulations which they themselves have set.”

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