‘No issue of too few private clinics’

THE closure of over 600 private general and dental clinics in Malaysia since 2014 is not solely due to lack of business or poor reception from the public, the Health Ministry said.

Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said only 78 of 9,155 registered clinics and three of 2,435 dental clinics had shut down due to economic reasons.

Between 2014 and June 2017, 643 private general clinics and 139 dental clinics have been deregistered.

However, 1,289 new private general clinics and 527 dental clinics were registered in the same period, so this means there was no issue of too few private clinics, he said to a question by Datuk Kamaruddin Jaffar (PKR-Tumpat).

As per the law, registered private clinics must apply to the ministry if they wish to deregister, and must also state the reason for the application.

Dr Hilmi said 39.5% of private general clinics and 53.3% of dental clinics which applied for deregistration said they were changing the location of their premises.

On another issue, he said the ministry will look into allegations of cartel-style control over the licence application and renewal processes for privately-run dialysis centres.

He was replying to a question by Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (Amanah-Kota Raja) over the difficulties faced by applicants of the licence.