THE government must strengthen the public healthcare system by prioritising five key areas in Budget 2023, the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy said today.

The independent public policy research and advocacy organisation said the five areas that need strengthening are healthcare financing, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), public health emergency preparedness and response, reproductive health, and aged care.

Founder and CEO Azrul Mohd Khalid said for too long, conversations concerning healthcare have been dependent on, and restricted by, issues of affordability.

He said focus has not been centred on meeting the current needs and ongoing challenges of a growing population and the economy of a country making the transition from a upper middle income to high income economy.

“We recommend that the government remove the RM1 and RM5 charges for outpatient and specialist care respectively in Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities,” he said in a statement.

Azrul said the charges mislead the public into thinking that public healthcare is cheaper when it actually acts as a barrier to access and should be removed altogether.

With more than 4 million people in the country living with diabetes, the centre said the government reducing the subsidy for diabetes treatment to allow people to take more responsibility for their health.

“For every ringgit spent on the three NCDs, 45 sen goes to diabetes, 41 sen goes to cardiovascular disease and 14 sen to cancer.

“We propose reducing subsidisation for diabetic treatments and introducing co-payments of up to 30% of actual cost.

“People must care and take charge of their own health. It will also help reduce wastage of subsidised medication,” Azrul said.

There is also a need to fortify the MOH’s disease control division by investing in training more epidemiologists, public health specialists, infectious disease experts, and increasing diagnostic laboratory capacity, he said.

“We need to increase the capacity of the disease control division of the MOH to prevent, detect and manage future epidemics.”

Increased funding must also be given to increase access to contraceptives for women to put a stop to unintended teenage pregnancies, he said.

Given that Malaysia is headed towards an ageing society, Azrul said that the government must prioritise this group in Budget 2023.

“Long-term care facilities and essential services remain limited, mostly confined to urban centres, and concentrated on private providers.

“The government needs to immediately make improving senior citizen and long term care a priority to be addressed in the upcoming Budget 2023.

“It may be necessary to introduce a national insurance scheme for those above the age of 40, specifically to fund aged and long-term care. Ad hoc approaches will not be sufficient or sustainable,” Azrul added.

The budget will be tabled on October 7. – September 20, 2022.