Gopeng MP Dr Lee Boon Chye, a former deputy health minister, said previous budget allocations for health had been insufficient. The allocations for the public and private sectors should be 4% and 2.5% of the GDP respectively, he said.
“We are currently under-investing in health and that is why the country’s health outcome has stagnated over the years in terms of lifespan,” he told FMT, adding that a substantial increase was also needed to tackle the lingering Covid-19 pandemic.
Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) data, the 6.5% figure was a reasonable amount based on Malaysia’s level of economic development, he said.
Lee also said it was important to strengthen the public sector with more funds as this facilitated affordable healthcare services.
He called for a substantial amount to address the manpower shortage in healthcare facilities, pointing out there was no clear direction from the government in securing additional human resources.
“The health and higher education ministries have different views about how many doctors the country needs.
“If you go by WHO’s recommendation, we need to produce 6,000 to 7,000 doctors a year but the health ministry cannot get enough housemen’s posts for all these graduates. Therefore, there must be a concerted effort to look at the manpower shortage,” he said.
Lee also said the government should focus on digitalising the healthcare system as the allocation so far was too small for nationwide computerisation.
He called for greater resources for treating non-communicable diseases and mental ailments.
Dr Steven Chow, president of the federation of private medical practitioners’ associations, said the health ministry should work on making public hospitals more efficient by setting targets for patients’ waiting time. This meant having more essential staff.
Chow also said the 2023 budget should focus on private-public partnerships in healthcare delivery, which should be “part and parcel” of policy-making.
However, this should not lead to over-privatisation of the public sector nor nationalisation of the private sector.
On Sept 16, Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said new healthcare facilities were needed especially in rural communities, including in Sabah and Sarawak, for more equal distribution of healthcare services nationwide.
He also hoped there would be funds to set up specialist centres in the north and south of the peninsula as patients had to travel to the capital and Selangor for certain specialist care services.