Almost 2.3 million adults suffer from these three diseases, according to health ministry figures.

The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) said the funds for primary care services should have a special focus to integrate preventive care.

Federation president Dr Shanmuganathan Ganeson said a review of current treatment and management of these diseases was also needed, along with skills training for general practitioners.

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Kalwinder Singh Khaira said some 13,000 GPs in private practice were currently “under-utilised” and he called for a “public-private collaboration” to improve management of NCDs – with private GPs being paid a sufficient amount to manage the cases.

Kalwinder also suggested that tax rebates be provided to doctors who take part in courses or conferences to improve their skills on primary healthcare services.

Azrul Khalid, the CEO and founder of the Galen Centre think tank reiterated his call for a national insurance scheme. He said the country has reached its limits of a tax-based system and could no longer stick with the current “budget-to-budget” approach for maintaining the national health service.

The insurance scheme could ensure better pay for healthcare workers, provide for more doctors and medical technicians to be recruited and retained, and ensure ageing infrastructure is modernised.

“The scheme would apply to all workers and be based on a sliding scale linked to monthly income and age. Patients would be able to access private hospitals as well as the national health service.

A national health insurance scheme was previously proposed by the Najib Razak administration but was scrapped in 2013. The proposal was revived in a health white paper presented to Parliament in June last year.