Scheme For Treating Heart Patients Needed, Says Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- The goverment is studying the possibility of creating a specific scheme to pay for the cost of treatment and surgery for heart patients in the country so that more patients can receive the full treatment, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The Deputy Prime Minister said this was necessary because of the increasing cost of treatment and surgery for heart patients and this resulted in some patients not getting the proper treatment for their ailment.
"Currently, only about nine per cent of heart patients are receiving full treatment that suited their needs while the rest are getting treatment but which do not fulfil their medical needs completely," he said after opening the 8th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Malaysian Association for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, here Friday.
As such, he said there should be a scheme that could be used as a group which could open up possibilities for the people to receive cardiovascular treatment that suited their needs.
Najib said the scheme was needed as the government's capacity was limited and could not pay for the increasing cost of heart treatment and surgery.
Nonetheless, he said, Malaysia had proven its capability and had achieved numerous successes in cardiovascular treatment and surgery.
Najib said the latest was the success of the National Heart Insttute (IJN) in performing an operation to insert the "Implantable Ventricular Assist Device" (IVAD) on a teenager who was suffering a heart ailment recently.
He said the patient, Muhammad Fikri Nor Azmi, 15, was now reported to be regaining his health and could be taken for walks.
In his speech earlier, Najib said over the 15-year period from 1985 to 2000, admissions into government hospitals for cardiovascular diseases had doubled from 59,000 to 110,000 cases.
However, he said the mortality rate among those admitted had shown a decline from 10.3 per cent to 7.2 per cent.
"This indicated both an increasing incidence of cardiovascular disease in the country and a greater awareness of the disease, including a greater readiness for accepting treatment at the proper time," he said.