Not enough for healthcare, say health bodies

Star: THE increase in the healthcare budget do not commensurate with the rise in healthcare operating costs, Malaysian Medical Association president Datuk Dr Teoh Siang Chin said.
He said the disparity between the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak, urban and rural healthcare was not addressed in the Budget.
The doctor-patient ratio in Sabah and Sarawak was 1:2,200 compared with the peninsula's 1:500, he said.
Citizens' Health Initiative co-ordinator Dr Chan Chee Khoon said judging by the allocation given to the health sector, the Government did not consider it a high priority.
"They seem more interested in commercialising biomedical research and biotechnology, and the ensuing product development and business ventures," he said.
"The World Health Organisation recommends that countries spend 5-8% of GDP on health care.
In previous years, we barely touched the low end of this, and 2007 appears little different," he said.
"It’s important for all Malaysians that we maintain a well-funded, competent and credible government health service. A reliable government health system that is cost efficient and provides subsidised service can act as a price bulwark (fallback option) to prevent even steeper price increases in the private health sector," he said.
Consumers Association of Penang president SM Mohd Idris said the increase in taxes for alcohol under the latest budget did not reflect the seriousness of the alcohol problem and the importance of promoting a healthy lifestyle.
"We are concerned about alcohol abuse, especially among youths and the poor. Not enough is being done to discourage the use of alcohol, although the adverse effects from alcohol use are serious," he said.
Apart from the acute and chronic adverse health effects, alcoholism has been known to ruin families and contribute to the breakdown of society, he said.
It had also previously been estimated that drinking and driving caused 30% of road accidents in the country, he said.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations chief executive office T. Indrani said while she welcomed the allocation for the building of health infrastructure, the budget did not reflect improving the lack of access to medicine.
"Due to the rising cost of medicine, people are self-medicating. While mobile clinics provide health access for the rural poor, the urban poor was neglected," she said.
"The government may say that healthcare is free for the poor, but now, more often, patients are told to buy medication outside because government hospitals had limited stock," she said adding that this was more common with chronic illness cases.