Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam, who has been in office for about eight months, gives his views, insights and goals of the healthcare system and the way it is managed.
PETALING JAYA: The preservation of society in the long run is much better than to treat a society which is frequently sick and ill, said Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam.
In an interview with FMT, Subramaniam, explaining one of his ministry’s directions wants to place emphasis on preventive medicine.
However, Subramaniam said the allocation for preventive healthcare is small, less than 5% of the total budget allocated for the healthcare.
In last year’s budget the government allocated RM22 billion for the healthcare industry.
“We have said that a big investment in preventive healthcare is vital. If you look at the indexes, we have serious health issues to tackle.
“For example, obesity affects nearly 15% of our population which is a fairly high number, and for diabetes and hypertension, the figure is around 30%.
“This tells us that there is a need for the government to promote healthy living and at least combat the major diseases which is a burden on healthcare cost,” said Subramaniam.
He also made a call to Malaysians to lead a healthy lifestyle by eating the right food, exercise regularly and quit smoking.
Any national health policy?
When asked if his ministry will introduce a National Health Policy to streamline the industry, Subramaniam said that at present the delivery of healthcare in this country was divided into primary, secondary and tertiary medical care which have been implemented through two parallel systems.
“One is the government health system and the other is the private health system. Both function independently of each other.
“Before independence, the government was the main player, after post independence about 20-30 years ago the private sector sector has been complementing the public health sector.
“There have been attempts before to formulate policies to complement each other but none has been officially accepted,” said Subramaniam.
He also added that before 2013, an idea was mooted to create better co-operation in the form of the 1Care policy but it was politicised and resulted in objections from many parties.
Subramaniam also wants to strengthen the primary care delivery to be effective, efficient and produce the desired results.
“For example a person with diabetes, he should have access to primary care facilities and optimal treatment. It should be such that he will be able to avoid the risk of developing complications in years to come,” he said.
Management of medical infrastructure
Subramaniam also touched on the issues for major hospitals in the big towns that are overcrowded, while the smaller ones are still manageable.
He said that a dedicated master plan with specific goals in the management of medical infrastructure was required to address this issue.
“I have announced that we are making an attempt to increase the hospital bed strength ratio to 2.5 beds per 1,000 population, which at the present is 1.81 to 1,000.
“To achieve this, we will require another 15,000 beds throughout the country.
“When you increase the number of bed spaces, it also has to be associated with the other infrastructure, we need equipments, facilities and the required manpower to complement each other,” added Subramaniam.
PETALING JAYA: The preservation of society in the long run is much better than to treat a society which is frequently sick and ill, said Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam.In an interview with FMT, Subramaniam, explaining one of his ministry’s directions wants to place emphasis on preventive medicine.
However, Subramaniam said the allocation for preventive healthcare is small, less than 5% of the total budget allocated for the healthcare.
In last year’s budget the government allocated RM22 billion for the healthcare industry.
“We have said that a big investment in preventive healthcare is vital. If you look at the indexes, we have serious health issues to tackle.
“For example, obesity affects nearly 15% of our population which is a fairly high number, and for diabetes and hypertension, the figure is around 30%.
“This tells us that there is a need for the government to promote healthy living and at least combat the major diseases which is a burden on healthcare cost,” said Subramaniam.
He also made a call to Malaysians to lead a healthy lifestyle by eating the right food, exercise regularly and quit smoking.
Any national health policy?
When asked if his ministry will introduce a National Health Policy to streamline the industry, Subramaniam said that at present the delivery of healthcare in this country was divided into primary, secondary and tertiary medical care which have been implemented through two parallel systems.
“One is the government health system and the other is the private health system. Both function independently of each other.
“Before independence, the government was the main player, after post independence about 20-30 years ago the private sector sector has been complementing the public health sector.
“There have been attempts before to formulate policies to complement each other but none has been officially accepted,” said Subramaniam.
He also added that before 2013, an idea was mooted to create better co-operation in the form of the 1Care policy but it was politicised and resulted in objections from many parties.
Subramaniam also wants to strengthen the primary care delivery to be effective, efficient and produce the desired results.
“For example a person with diabetes, he should have access to primary care facilities and optimal treatment. It should be such that he will be able to avoid the risk of developing complications in years to come,” he said.
Management of medical infrastructure
Subramaniam also touched on the issues for major hospitals in the big towns that are overcrowded, while the smaller ones are still manageable.
He said that a dedicated master plan with specific goals in the management of medical infrastructure was required to address this issue.
“I have announced that we are making an attempt to increase the hospital bed strength ratio to 2.5 beds per 1,000 population, which at the present is 1.81 to 1,000.
“To achieve this, we will require another 15,000 beds throughout the country.
“When you increase the number of bed spaces, it also has to be associated with the other infrastructure, we need equipments, facilities and the required manpower to complement each other,” added Subramaniam.
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