PETALING JAYA: A total of 401 projects to upgrade health clinics and other healthcare facilities across the country are in progress this year at an estimated cost of RM150 million, says health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad.
He said in Sabah alone, 55 of these projects, costing RM21.5 million, are under way and expected to be completed by the end of the year, Bernama reported.
“We are committed to completing these projects soon,” he was quoted as saying.
Dzulkefly added that the Sabah health department is prioritising the construction of the Sikuati health clinic in Kudat and upgrades to the outpatient department at the Papar and Tambunan hospitals.
He was speaking to reporters after launching the national-level World Malaria, Tuberculosis and Leprosy Day event at Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Kota Kinabalu today.
Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor was previously reported to have said that most of Sabah’s hospitals and clinics are in a dilapidated state and appealed for more funds for health services in the state.
In April 2023, FMT reported the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) as saying that health services in Sabah had suffered from “decades of neglect by Putrajaya”, with the state’s health infrastructure in desperate need of upgrades.
Then MMA president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said there were frequent cases of machine breakdowns, and problems of insufficient or obsolete medical equipment and consumables, and long waiting times for repairs and maintenance.
Former Sabah health minister Frankie Poon agreed that many hospitals and clinics in the state needed to be upgraded, stating that Sabahans in need of specialised treatment often had to wait for months at a time to be treated because not all specialists were stationed there permanently. - FMT
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