The Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy said “immediate attention” was needed to improve the public healthcare system’s infrastructure, retain manpower, increase health coverage and quality of service delivery, and address the multiple crises it was currently experiencing.
“The government must first prepare and present a comprehensive plan to solve the massive haemorrhage of talent, expertise and manpower leaving the public healthcare system,” the centre’s CEO, Azrul Khalib, said in a statement today.
He said the government must also tackle the congestion in hospital emergency departments, where patients are known to wait long hours for treatment.
“Crowding in the emergency department is an indicator of a dysfunctional healthcare system,” he said. “The government must develop and present a plan of action to solve this.”
Azrul also urged the government to conduct an audit of fire and related safety measures at all public healthcare facilities.
He cited the blaze which ripped through the intensive care unit at Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) in Johor Bahru in October 2016, resulting in the deaths of six patients, and injuries to several others.
“It must also release the report from the independent committee convened to investigate the 2016 HSA fire which, despite being declassified, remains unavailable for public scrutiny,” he said.
Lastly, Azrul urged the government to table the Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022, saying vaping and vape products needed to be regulated immediately.
“The unity government is an opportunity to implement tough, necessary, and delayed reforms as well as progress on issues which were previously stymied by a lack of vision or political will,” he said.
He said this required collaboration and consultation with patient groups, affected communities, the private sector and civil society organisations.
Former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin had tabled the bill, dubbed the generational endgame (GEG) bill, for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat last July.
The bill seeks to ban the use, possession and sale of cigarettes and vape products to those born after 2007.