Khairy clarifies MySejahtera move not a sale, assures data safety

The Health Ministry has clarified that the government's decision to appoint a firm to manage the MySejahtera application was not a case of selling it off.

"The Health Ministry would like to clarify that it had never sold the MySejahtera application to any private company.

"On Nov 26 last year, the government decided that the ownership of the MySejahtera application lies with the government and the Health Ministry was appointed as the main owner for public health management," said Health Ministry Khairy Jamaluddin.

Instead, Khairy said the same firm had managed the application from the onset and had offered its services without charge for a one-year period as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR).

During this period, Khairy said the government did not pay anything to Kpisoft (M) Sdn Bhd which developed the application.

However, he said with that one-year free period expiring on March 31 last year, the process to formally enter into a business arrangement with the firm was initiated.

"After the CSR period ended on March 31 last year, the government agreed for the MySejahtera service to be extended.

"The government's decision on Nov 26 last year also required the Health Ministry to form a price negotiation committee comprising the stakeholders to negotiate the price of the procurement and management services for the MySejahtera application with the company for a period of two years in accordance to the government's procurement procedure.

"The Finance Ministry on Feb 28 approved the Health Ministry's application for the procurement of managing the MySejahtera application and it was finalised by the Finance Ministry.

"The negotiation process has started and the Health Ministry will ensure due diligence to protect the government's interest," Khairy said.

Khairy also stressed that from the onset, data on MySejahtera has always been under the purview of the Health Ministry.

"All data management goes through a data governance process set by the Health Ministry.

"The usage and management of MySejahtera data must abide by the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, Medical Act 1971 and international standards.

"The Health Ministry also cannot share the MySejahtera data with other ministries or the private sector," Khairy said.

He added that the MySejahtera data uploaded to the cloud daily can only be accessed for the purpose of the MySejahtera application only.

"The Health Ministry hopes that the public will not be doubtful and continue using the MySejahtera application.

"Everyone's data secrecy is guaranteed, and the Health Ministry will always ensure it will not be compromised," he said.

- Mkini