KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry has been allocated RM41.2 billion under Budget 2024, a bump from its RM36.3 billion allocation this year, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In tabling the 2024 supply bill, Anwar said that the increase is the biggest among all ministries, noting that RM5.5 billion of the funds is to secure medicine supplies, consumables, reagents and vaccines.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said that since the nation has yet to reach the ratio of one doctor to 400 patients, the accessibility of health facilities will be improved to decrease the risk of congestion at public health centres.
“To continue managing the congestion at public hospitals, the government will continue to work on channelling patients to other hospitals, including army, university and private hospitals with an allocation of RM200 million.
“RM766 million is provided to purchase medical equipment in government hospitals to replace facilities found to be beyond economic repair and an RM200 million procurement allocation to ensure the readiness of health services to respond to emergency calls.”
Besides that, RM300 million will be utilised to improve 400 dilapidated clinics, while several new development projects are set to begin next year, including five new clinics in several localities nationwide at a cost of RM150 million.
The government also supports Sarawak’s goal of developing a cancer institute in the East Malaysian state.
Seeing as how only 3% of public clinics are equipped with infrastructure to keep digital medical records, Anwar said that RM150 million has been allocated to upgrade information systems, including providing a Clinic Management System Subscription in 100 clinics. – October 13, 2023