In response to a recent news report regarding claims that there were change in the policy regarding the giving of anti-hypertensive drugs( medicine for blood pressure) in government hospitals and clinics that was shortened to 2 weeks course from the previous 1 month dosage of the medication, I contacted the Deputy Health Minister YB Dr Lee Boon Chye to get clarification whether there was a policy change or was there a budget cut based on some claims by certain people.
I understand the inconvenienced caused by this and how patients are now forced to come back more often to get the medicine which not only force them to travel more from their homes to the clinics, but also go through the whole registration and waiting process in the clinic in order to obtain the medicine. That is why I directly contacted the Deputy Minister in order to get a better picture of the issue and how we can address this issue for the convenience of the patients not just here in Sarawak, but also the whole Malaysia.
The Ministry of Health then explained that the policy set by the Pharmacy Department under the Ministry of health for all government hospitals and clinics since last year is that for the dispensing of drugs and medicine, the maximum dosage given at one time is set at 1 month. This is done due to budget cuts in previous years and also in order to prevent wastage as some patients do take extra medication for few months from the pharmacy but end up not consuming it causing wastage and may deprive others that may need it as well.
However, since the middle end of 2018, the dispensing of anti-hypertensive drug, specifically Tablet Telmisartan 40 mg dan Tablet Telmisartan 80 mg to patients had to be reduced from 1 month to half a month(2 weeks). This is due to the problems with the medicine supply chain because of the lack of the drug supply from the pharmaceutical company appointed by the Ministry of Health. This company has the contract to supply such medications to all government health facilities. The Ministry was informed that the lack is due to manufacturing problems.
So, temporarily, the pharmacy department has informed the Medical Doctors to prescribe alternative anti-hypertensive medications like Tablet Losartan if the condition of patient is permissible. However, in the case that patients continue to require Tablet Telmisartan 40 mg or Tablet Telmisartan 80 mg, they will then have no choice to prescribe in stages for a maximum 2 weeks at one time.
The Ministry has assured that this is a temporary situation and the supplier has given their assurance that the lack of medicine supply is being addressed. There is no changes in policy nor is there a cut in medical budget as claimed by some quarters.
Fact of the matter is, since the Pakatan Harapan Government took over, even with all the limitations and financial constraints, they have allocated the biggest allocations to healthcare in history in the budget, an increase of 7.8% from the previous health budget in 2018. This again shows our commitment and focus on healthcare and to take care of the needs of our people.
I however urged the Ministry to quickly address this issue as it has already caused many inconvenience to the patients.I understand the inconvenience this has caused many people and I will continue to follow up with the relevant ministry to make sure that this issue is properly and quickly addressed. Healthcare is not something that should be jeopardised even in tough financial times such as these.