Saying Malaysians “are tired and want to put the Covid-19 nightmare behind us”, Lim panned the ministry for:
- Its increasing unaccountability;
- Its overdependence on central agencies like the finance ministry, the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security Council (MKN) for decision-making and resources; and
- Failure to resolve human capital issues.
In a statement today, the Iskandar Puteri MP noted the attempts to expand the ministry’s already extensive powers under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 in December 2021 through proposed amendments to increase fines to RM10,000 for individuals and RM1 million for companies.
He also noted the “many flagrant instances of double standards of enforcement” and inability to coordinate with the police.
He said that when it came to the ministry’s purchasing decisions, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and the Public Accounts Committee should be provided access to granular data on health spending.
Other costs from the national immunisation programme should also be publicised, especially the costs of mega vaccination centres, or PPVs, and public-private partnerships.
Details on how the National Trust Fund (KWAN) was being used to purchase vaccines should also be made public, he said.
On the role and stature of the health ministry, Lim said many decisions on lockdowns, vaccinations and the phases of the national recovery programme had been put under security agencies such as MKN and the finance ministry.
He said part of the problem was the ministry’s dependence on central agencies for funding, aside from the government’s “militarised” pandemic response.
On human capital and public service, Lim said the issue involving contract doctors, nurses and pharmacists should have been resolved through a win-win partnership between the ministry and the public service department (JPA).
He cited statistics showing that only 789 contract doctors had been absorbed as permanent staff since 2016, affecting the morale, mental health and long-term career progression of the others.
“The pandemic is not over yet, and we must overhaul the health ministry to make it stronger for Covid-19, future pandemics, the epidemic of non-communicable diseases, and the ageing tsunami that is already upon us,” he said.
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