NOVEMBER , 2022 | THE HEALTH

16 | The Health says ... |

P16

Pharmacognosy and Parkinson ’ s disease prevention Plant-based medicines continue to be utilised to treat several pathological illnesses or as substitutes for contemporary medications

P17

Personal hygiene post-pandemic : Don ’ t let go too soon The pandemic is an excellent opportunity to truly instil good , hygienic practices till they are embedded into our so-called norm

P18

When a child becomes aggressive In contrast to being a diagnosis in and of itself , aggression is a symptom of complicated underlying causes

P19

Understanding the cause of gout Gout is a form of arthritis that is complex and can be avoided through exercise and avoiding certain foods

P02

Message from the Organising Chair

P04-07 Cover Story

• Advocating optometry in Asia

• Overwhelming response to 3rd AOC

• A key platform for Asian optometry

• Providing adequate training and education

P08-09

Asian Highlights

17

Yet , it is estimated that 70-75 per cent of the private hospitals in the country are controlled by Government-Linked Investment Companies ( GLICs ) or Government-Linked Companies ( GLCs ).

Many of these hospitals are part of listed entities , which means their dividends go to shareholders , some of whom are foreign .

There is good money to be made in private healthcare . Just look at the healthy profits enjoyed by listed hospital groups . Some have even expanded their operations abroad .

The government entities that own large hospital groups include the government investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd , the national unit trust fund Permodalan Nasional Bhd and the Johore government .

Recently , Khazanah ’ s 26 per cent owned IHH Healthcare sold its stake in IMU Health for RM1.35 billion cash , reaping a massive gain of RM902 million . You can imagine the billions in cash Khazanah would get if it were to sell its stake in IHH Healthcare .

Is it a good idea for the government to be involved in the business of private hospitals ? Shouldn ’ t that be ideally left to the private sector ?

Isn ’ t it the duty of the government to concentrate on providing public healthcare facilities such as hospitals , clinics , doctors , nurses , medication and medical equipment ? From what we see , public hospitals are always crowded with a shortage of drugs prevalent .

Budget 2023 had proposed an allocation of RM36.14 billion for the Ministry of Health , a significant 11.5 per cent increase from 2022 . To what extent will these funds be channelled towards new public healthcare facilities and help alleviate the shortages mentioned ?

Instead of investing in private hospitals , the government should upgrade and expand all the general hospitals in the country and set up private wings where government doctors can earn extra income by charging patients close to market rates .

At least two hospitals , owned by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Malaya , have implemented this successfully .

It will also help stop the brain drain , which is becoming a serious problem as the gap in remuneration between the public and private sectors widens . The profits from the private wing can be channelled to subsidise the public hospital .

But we must ensure that there is no abuse by doctors , such as persuading public patients to seek treatment in the private wing when they don ’ t need to .

Post GE15 , we hope the new government will look into this earnestly .