‘Budget 2019’s increase in healthcare allocation cannot keep pace with costs’
KUALA LUMPUR: Budget 2019’s higher allocation for healthcare cannot keep pace with rising healthcare costs, analysts say, and they believe that more innovative approaches will need to be implemented to deliver health messages.
According to AmInvestment Bank Bhd (AmInvestment Bank), new drugs and new methods in healthcare delivery have led to higher healthcare costs over the past decade.
“We believe the increase in allocation for healthcare cannot keep pace with the rising healthcare costs,” the research firm said.
“The expenditure on medicines rose almost 200 per cent from RM2.2 billion to RM4.2 billion between 2013 and 2018.”
Key healthcare proposals highlighted in last week’s federal Budget 2019 had included the allocation of nearly RM29 billion for Ministry of Health (MOH), an increase of 7.8 per cent compared to the previous year.
“This includes an allocation of RM10.8 billion to provide medicine, to upgrade and improve the quality of health services at our clinics and hospitals,” Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng revealed in his speech.
Other notable healthcare allocations included RM50 million for the specific purpose of treating rare diseases, Hepatitis C virus, stunted growth among children, providing more haemodialysis treatments and Enhanced Primary Healthcare (EnPHC).
AmInvestment Bank noted that medicine expenditure will increase in the future due to an aging population, prevalence of chronic diseases, new patented medicines and higher demand for healthcare.
“Hence, public healthcare financing sustainability is a concern given the current fiscal challenges.”
On another note, AmInvestment Bank opined that being an increasingly overweight and obese nation, the need for slogans and traditional educational programmes should be discarded and “move to innovative ways to deliver health messages to the people so that they practice responsible self-care and only visit clinics and hospitals if required”.
The research firm noted that ICT could be employed to do this.
“Also, we need to enhance universal coverage, improve quality of care, ensure good financial protection for those who fall ill, strengthen governance and ensure the health system remains viable and sustainable for generations to come,” it stressed.
“As we strive to become a high-income and developed nation, we need to upgrade and adapt our healthcare system to overcome current and future challenges.
“The need to enhance our universal coverage, improve quality of care and health outcomes, ensure good financial protection for those who fall ill, strengthen the level of governance and make certain the healthcare system remains viable and sustainable for generations to come are vital.”
AmInvestment Bank also noted that there is a great level of inequity between public hospitals and private in terms of resources, equipment and healthcare costs.
The research firm thus believed that to improve further equity, accessibility, quality, integration and regulation of healthcare services, it is time to introduce an integrated healthcare system, strengthen primary care by shifting it closer to the community, and introduce some form of healthcare financing.
“Private primary care physicians or family physicians should be invited to enforce wellness paradigm initiatives and bring health information closer to the people so that they can be responsible for their own health.”