Materia Medica Malaysiana

Enforce act for treatment cost control, govt told

KUALA LUMPUR June 7 - The UMNO Youth on Monday reiterated its call to the government to speed up enforcement of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 which was passed four years ago.

Its Public Complaints Bureau Chief Datuk Subahan Kamal said the act would enable the government to monitor and reduce medical fees charged by the private hospitals.

"By enforcing the Act, private hospitals cannot charge their patients to their whims to the extent of taxing those who really need treatment but face financial constraints.

The private hospitals should abide by the stipulated guidelines," he told a media conference on the plight of Mohd Imran Mohd Azmir, 7, (son of singer Amir Ukays) who is suffering from a complex heart ailment.

Subahan said UMNO Youth had repeatedly urged the government to enforce the Act. It had sent three memorandums to the Health Ministry and had met former Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng.

Subahan claimed Chua had said the Act would be enforced early this year.

"When an Act is passed in Parliament, it must be enforced for the people's well-being," he said.

He said the movement intends to meet Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek soon to discuss the matter.

At the meeting, he said, UMNO Youth would highlight the plight of Amir (Mohd Azmir Mohd Yusuf) who had appealed for financial aid from the National Health Welfare Fund.

He applied for RM50,000 from the fund two months ago to supplement the cost of his son's heart operation.

Amir, who was accompanied by his wife, Noor Yusniza Yunus, and two children, said he could not afford the cost.

He claimed the fund's secretariat officials who visited his house had yet to respond to his appeal after they discovered that he was a singer.

He said his son was referred to specialists in the private hospital after the National Heart Institute refused to operate on him due to slim chance of survival.

Imran, who has a twin brother named Mohd Irman, had undergone three operations, costing nearly RM100,000, all borne by Amir.

At the media conference, UMNO Youth contributed RM1,000 to ease Amir's financial burden.