IN prioritising public health, Putrajaya allocated RM32.4 billion for the Health Ministry under the Budget 2022, the second largest allocation after the Education Ministry, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said today.

The allocation given is equivalent to 9.8% of the total Budget 2022 amount and is an increase of 1.6% compared to this year’s RM31.9 billion allocation.

Tengku Zafrul said an additional RM4 billion will be provided specifically to continue the nation’s fight in handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The agenda to address Covid-19 includes RM2 billion to fund vaccination programmes, while another RM2 billion is provided to increase the capacity of public health service facilities such as the purchase of medicines, consumables, personal protective equipment (PPE) and health kits,” he said.  

The finance minister said the government has signed an agreement to procure 88 million Covid-19 vaccines to be given as booster shots to all adults and adolescents in the country.

“The government has signed an agreement to get 88 million doses, which is equivalent to more than 140% of the population and enough to give a third dose to all citizens aged 12 years and above,” he said.

Tengku Zafrul expressed appreciation to lawmakers who unanimously approved the amendment to the act to allow the use of the National Trust Fund (KWAN) to fund the procurement of Covid-19 vaccine.

He said the government intends to provide individual tax relief and tax deduction to employers on costs associated with the adoption of self-funded booster vaccines.

Tengku Zafrul also said that the government intends to procure antiviral drugs that are found to be effective against various viruses, including Covid-19. However, he did not disclose the type and the name of the drug.

In another development, the finance minister said the government has agreed to extend the contractual appointments of more than 10,000 medical, dental and pharmaceutical officers.

“Their service period of two years would be increased to a maximum of four years to ensure continuity of service and preparation for their specialist studies.

“Additionally, the government has agreed to approve the sponsorship of a specialisation programme with an allocation of RM100 million for the benefit of 3,000 medical and dental contract officers,” he said. – October 29, 2021.