Prior to the tabling of Budget 2017, it was reported in the newspapers and online media that many government hospitals faced a shortage of funds due to an increased volume of patients. The Director General of Health, Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, and the Minister of Health, Datuk Seri Dr. Subramaniam Sathasivam both acknowledged the problems and promised that hospitals facing a shortage of funds could request for additional allocations. The Ministry of Health had also requested Requests were made for the Finance Minister to increase funding for the Ministry of Health in Budget 2017.
Budget 2017 showed there will be a slight increase in the allocation for the Ministry of Health from RM23.031billion to RM 24.8 billion. An increase of RM1.8 billion which is equivalent to 7.8%.
The total number of prescriptions for both outpatients and in-patients are expected to increase by 6.99% from 71,790,000 in 2016 to 76,810,000 in 2017. (Page 469). It appears that there will be enough additional allocation for the government hospitals to purchase medicines.
Unfortunately, analysis of the details show a nightmarish situation for the doctors, nurses and patients. Under Butiran 032200, Farmasi dan Bekalan, and Kod 20000, Perkhidmatan dan Bekalan, the allocation has been reduced by 18.98% from RM1,595,601,600 to RM1,292,761,700. A reduction of RM302,839,900!
The average cost per prescription in 2016 was only RM22.23. It is already an abysmally small amount of money to supply life-saving medicines for patients with heart attacks and diabetes. The doctors are now expected to prescribe medicines that would only cost RM16.83 in total for each patient. It is a massive 24% cut in cost per prescription!
As we know, RM16.83 may not be enough to buy three meals a day in Malaysia. The cost of medicine is now higher since the introduction of GST together coupled with the weakening ringgits. A month’s supply of vitamin pills or supplements can easily cost more. How are we to supply a month’s medicine for chronic illness like diabetes and high blood pressure on less than a ringgit, at 56 cents per day?
The government hospitals have already suffered a budget cut of up to RM300 million announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the beginning of the year. Next year doctors are looking at an even less enviable situation to treat an additional 5 million more patients with another RM302 million cut. Doctors are not magicians to cover up for the shortcomings of an incompetent government.
To rub salt into the wound, the Prime Minister just announced that Malaysia will purchase 10 littoral mission ships from China at a cost of RM300 million each. That is a total amount of RM3 billion. This is surprising as Malaysia is involved in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Yet we are buying patrol boats from them. The cost of one boat alone is enough to buy a month’s supply of essential medicine at RM20 cost per patient for 15 million patients! That is half the population of Malaysia.
What is the point of buying patrol boats when the rakyat cannot even get essential medicines? Clearly the Prime Minister is not looking after the health of the nation by cutting the funding per prescription by 24%. I urge all the rakyat to reject this budget which lacks compassion for the sick and the ill.