DR Dzulkefly Ahmad will review Putrajaya’s methods of purchasing drugs for the medical facilities in the country, to solve the problem of drug shortages at the dispensaries.

The new Health Minister said a transparent procurement process would end the issue of insufficient supply of drugs.

Dzulkefly, whose motto for healthcare services is “quality, affordable and safe”, said transparency would also lead to a better healthcare system.

He said  the ministry was also under funded as the previous government had allocated it  only 4.5% of the national GDP (gross development product) when 6-7% of the GDP was the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation.

The situation, he said, was made worse by leakages in the medicine and medical equipment procurement process.

“They often go through a third party – on the basis it is a Bumiputera company.

“The obscure procurement practice caused prices to increase – a burden the government and the people had to bear,” he told Malaysia Decides today.

Dzulkefly is a toxicology expert who received his Ph.D from the Imperial College (St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School) at the University of London. He was sworn in as Health Minister yesterday in the new Pakatan Harapan administration helmed by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The former Universiti Sains Malaysia lecturer vowed to review the procurement process to ensure transparency and competitiveness so that the people and the government would get their money’s worth.

The father of seven and grandfather of 13 said he would also look into the issue of insufficient placements for housemen. Medical officers who have completed their training are required to do mandatory service at a government hospital, they are unable to placement.

This longstanding issue was reportedly due to an oversupply of medical graduates in the country, but Dr Dzulkefly has a different view on the matter.

“The doctor-patient ratio in Malaysia is 1:600, higher than the WHO standard of 1:400,” he said.

“We lack 16,000 hospital beds nationwide. We have to acknowledge that we are spending less on healthcare than we should. We have to fix this problem.

“In my view, it is okay to have many medical schools because we don’t have enough doctors. It is the quality of healthcare we have to look into.”

On his appointment to the cabint, the Amanah politician said he did not expect to be chosen by Dr Mahathir, calling it a “pleasant surprise”.

“Tthe PM must have his reasons for thinking I am the man for the job.

“What is definite is Dr Mahathir wants a person who can assess the healthcare system on a macro level.”

Asked what was on his to-do list after swearing in, Dzulkefly said he wished to start by being a good listener before making any promises. – May 22, 2018.