Set aside 7-8% of GDP to boost healthcare system, govt told

 

Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman said there was a need to allocate more funds to address the urban-rural divide and the rise in the geriatric population. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The government should be spending about 7-8% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to improve the healthcare system, says medical expert Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman.

She noted that although the budget allocation for healthcare was the second highest after education, it was only at about 4% of GDP.

Malaysia’s healthcare expenditure stood at 3.75% of GDP in 2018, according to World Bank data.

In the 2021 budget, the overall allocation to the health ministry increased from RM30.6 billion to RM31.9 billion, a 4.3% increase year-on-year.

Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman.

“One thing that we should learn from this Covid-19 pandemic is that we must invest more wisely, not necessarily building bigger or shinier hospitals, but in addressing the urban-rural divide and the rise in the geriatric population.

“However, we are not necessarily living better because of our high prevalence of diabetes, obesity, high-end stage renal failure, heart diseases, stroke, cancer, chronic lung diseases and so on, which are adding to the burden of the healthcare system,” she said in a virtual conversation with MIDF Amanah Investment Bank CEO Dominic Silva today.

Adeeba is the professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Universiti Malaya, adjunct associate professor at Yale University, president of the International AIDS Society, and a member of the World Health Organization’s Science Council.

She said healthcare transformation and the strengthening of primary healthcare in the country is crucially needed to address the aging population, the increase in non-communicable diseases, and to manage threats of future pandemics.

On containing Covid-19, Adeeba noted that there are no automated testing systems and most things are still done manually.

She recommended an expansion in testing and contact tracing while the isolation and support of those infected by Covid-19 needed to be continued.

“It is also important to bring people together to have ownership of whatever SOPs to see if it is workable or not. Collaboration and agency coordination can be better improved with businesses, NGOs and the community on the ground,” she said.

Adeeba also called on employers, especially those with foreign workers, to be more responsible for any outbreak that happens in their premises.

She cited Singapore as an example where the disease was controlled by ensuring adequate and proper housing for migrant workers, besides vaccinations and regular testing. - FMT