Don't be an election season hero, Johari tells Wan Saiful

Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani, who is also Titiwangsa MP, has lashed out at Bersatu's Wan Saiful Wan Jan for accusing the government of not having the finances for the people's welfare.

Wan Saiful has been speculated to be a possible challenger to Johari in Titiwangsa, the sole Parliament seat in the Federal Territories that was allocated to Bersatu.

"My advice to Wan Saiful, if he truly wants to be a politician worth his salt, he should be hardworking by going to the ground and meeting with the people.

"He should not try to become a hero only when the election is coming," he said in a press statement today.

Wan Saiful, best known as the founder of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas), had resigned from the think tank and formally joined Bersatu on March 1.

On Tuesday, Wan Saiful (photo) revealed a letter from the Federal Territories Health Department instructing district health officers in Titiwangsa, Kepong, Cheras, Putrajaya and Lembah Pantai to reduce the number of HbA1c tests to once a year, on grounds of budgetary constraint.

He pointed out that the best practice was to conduct the HbA1c test, which shows a patient's average blood sugar level, four times a year.

"The Umno-led BN government has failed to manage the country's coffers to the point that the health of Malaysians is at risk, especially low-income families in Kuala Lumpur," he said.

Responding to this, Johari stressed that the government had always taken care of the people's health and welfare.

"Under Budget 2018, the government had disbursed a total of RM27 billion for the health sector which covers the cost of buying medical supplies, medical support services and the construction of medical facilities," he said.

He added that the government's budget for the healthcare sector was the second highest after education.

Johari said the budget also covered the building and upgrade of healthcare facilities.

As of 2017, he said the government had built, upgraded or expanded a total of 144 hospitals with 41,995 beds, 1,060 health clinics, 1,800 rural clinics and 357 1Malaysia clinics.

The number of medical specialists has also increased from 3,380 people in 2012 to 4,970 in 2017.

"Wan Saiful's claim of a budget cut to healthcare is clearly inaccurate.

"In Wan Saiful's enthusiasm to sully the BN government in the hope of becoming an MP in the coming general election, it is clear that he does not know how to differentiate between facts and perception," said Johari.

According to the letter shared by Wan Saiful, it claimed there was a budget cut for the purchase of reagent for the HbA1c test.

"As informed, there is a budget cut for 2018. With regret, those affected following the budget cut include the purchase of reagent for the HbA1c test.

"Based on the number of reagents that will be purchased, each patient can only undergo one HbA1c test for the whole of 2018," it said. - Mkini