HEALTH practitioners lauded the Finance Ministry’s (MOF) Budget 2023 tabled yesterday, saying that there was a significant improvement in allocations to the public health sector, compared to previous years, and saw it as the right direction towards reforms needed in the healthcare system. 

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in a statement that the government has allocated RM36.1 billion to the Health Ministry (MOH), of which RM31.5 billion is for operations spending and RM4.63 billion for development expenditure.

“The allocation in the Budget 2023 is an increase of RM3.72 billion or 11.51% compared to the RM32.4 billion allocated in 2022. This is one of the largest increases in expenditure among the ministries,” he said, adding that out of the overall RM372 .3 billion allocation for Budget 2023, 11.05% is designated to MOH.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr R. Muruga Raj said the government’s emphasis on disease prevention through enhancements to its various screening programmes is welcome and hope it will encourage the public to take full advantage of the facilities provided.

In a statement, Muruga said that he believed the proposal for six new initiatives worth RM3.4 billion to MOF in late September made an impact in convincing the ministry of the need for a much higher allocation for the Health Ministry.

“However, we hope there will soon be further details on its plans for its healthcare human resources which represent the heartbeat of our public healthcare system. There is still a long way to go in addressing the issue of contract doctors and the shortages in specialists, and going forward, MMA hopes there will be transparency in the utilisation of the various allocations under the Health Ministry,” he said.

Meanwhile, Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president, Dr Kuljit Singh, said private health practitioners will continue to help the government in treating patients who can afford healthcare on their own and this will reduce the burden of the public healthcare system. 

“The budget is meant for patients who require public healthcare and we hope the government will continue to allow private healthcare to remain in its current structure without disruption of its business model. In return, private hospitals will be able to give more support to public hospitals,” he said. – Bernama, October 8, 2022.