LET’s not get too excited with the minor cabinet reshuffle Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has done after much brouhaha from the public for months about his under-performing ministers.

But the one ministry in good hands is the Health Ministry.

Generally, the comments have been welcoming of the “new” health minister, Dzulkefly Ahmad, who had a short stint heading it during the 22-month Pakatan Harapan (PH) rule under then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The expectations for Dzulkefly to make drastic reforms in the health sector are indeed significant.

Indeed, there has been little or no traction in revamping the highly diversified and varied health delivery systems that have existed for decades.

While there have been numerous technological advances in the health and medical fields, Malaysia’s health system is nothing to write home about.

The health sector is too fragmented and the stakeholders operate in silos.

The government has shown precious little change in the public health sector – more in terms of administrative reforms and increasing government-run clinics and hospitals, but nothing drastic or significant has taken place to address the problems plaguing the public health delivery system.

Long waits at clinics and hospitals, understaffed counters, under-utilised resources, underpaid staff, irrelevant purchases, wastages, non-conducive work environments, non-optimisation of IT facilities, hostile staff and frontliners who lack basic public relations skills, the near monopolistic nature of engaging suppliers of medicines and equipment, non-existent centralised patient databases, and the lack of patient-centric education on health issues are just some of the issues.

Now, if we move on to the private sector, the situation is no better in terms of total healthcare delivery.

While it is a choice the “customer-cum-patient’ makes to address any health issues in the private sector, we must keep in mind the private concerns are not exempt from the law.

Charges can skyrocket to the extent of bankrupting customers just to ensure the shareholders are kept happy, and medicines and medical procedures can cost an arm and a leg at times.

True, the choice lies with the customer, but should the government not have some say to safeguard the people’s interests?

No health minister has had the guts to clamp down on these private entities and take them to task.

In the name of practising defensive medicine, many private clinics and hospitals subject their customers to excessive diagnostic testing, almost always with no informed consent from the patient or next of kin.

This unethical behaviour is far more prevalent when the subject has some sort of medical insurance coverage, and it comes as no surprise insurance companies have become overly diligent and cautious in providing affordable medical coverage.

Eventually, the losers are always the people.

What has the Health Ministry done to address this rather unprofessional conduct in the private sector? Nothing!

That is not all. I have hardly touched the tip of the iceberg in terms of the problems in the health sector.

Let’s not forget the pharmaceutical segment in the health industry is yet another Pandora’s box, which will be dissected in my next article.

Historically, all past health ministers have not been able to reform the health sector in a way that brings impactful and beneficial outcomes to the public.

All efforts have been shots in the dark, with multiple sub-committees and working groups not even making ripples to catalyse major changes.

The Health Ministry has been extremely busy micromanaging doctors, but is overlooking more critical areas that would be far more beneficial to the people.

It is only fair that the benefit of doubt is given to Dzulkefly, with hopes that he has the political will and perseverance to make significant reforms.

He should equip himself with a team of experts from the public and private health sectors who have hands-on experience, not the same old hats who just sit in their offices.

Good luck, Dzulkefly! – December 14, 2023.

* Narinder Pal Singh reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.