Advancing Malaysia’s healthcare system

Changes need to be introduced in terms of service delivery, financing and organisation in order to bring the Malaysian healthcare system to greater heights, says an expert.

Malaysia is ranked as one the best countries in the world to retire in and this is in part due to its good healthcare system. Even though this aspect is beneficial to the tourism industry, MOH’s main focus is actually the services provided to the 30 million local Malaysians, said Dr. Rozita Halina Tun Hussein, deputy director, MOH.

As our country grows nearer towards becoming a high income nation, the healthcare system has to evolve as well to meet the needs and demands of the citizens. The role of the government is paramount in improving the healthcare system. The government is well aware of that and is currently focused not on facility- or doctor-centric services but on people-centric services instead, she said.

The government is conscious of the needs and wants of the people. Presently, the people need better quality care and lower healthcare bills, said Rozita. At the same time, the goals of healthcare are constantly changing. “Thirty years ago, the focus was on infectious diseases and maternal and child health,” she said. “It has now shifted to integrated care, mental illnesses and non-communicable diseases, to name a few.”

“A typical Malaysian makes an average of 4.4 visits to a healthcare practitioner annually. Yet one third of the population is hypertensive. Less than 40 percent of the one third is actually diagnosed. And out of the 40 percent, only 33 percent have controlled hypertension,” said Rozita. The situation is similar for diabetes. This suggests that something is not right with the current healthcare system, she said.

Health is a crucial modality for income redistribution and the return of investments is as substantial as education’s. High quality healthcare services will attract foreign direct investments, escalate productivity and enhance population education level. Health really is wealth, concluded Rozita.

In the blueprint for the 11^th Malaysia Plan, the government addressed various aspects of the healthcare system including the financing mechanisms; public-private partnerships; infrastructure planning and development; human resource and organisational capacity development; primary healthcare; health system and work process; healthy ecosystem; and information and communications technology transformations.