Pensioners in need of better care

REFERRING to the article “Making good healthcare accessible for all” ( Sunday Star, June 3), most of what Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said about ensuring the delivery of affordable and high-quality healthcare in the country were generalities.

I would like to highlight certain practices of the previous administration pertaining to the treatment of government servants and pensioners that should not be continued.

All the while, patients from government service and pensioners were being treated well and given the appropriate medicines. There was a government-appointed pharmacy (Oratis) that was linked to many private pharmacies, making it very convenient for public service employees and pensioners to obtain medicines that were not available in government hospital pharmacies. Though the previous administration claimed that the economy was doing well, budgets for the Health Ministry were gradually cut, making it necessary for government hospitals to prescribe generic medicines. The prescriptions were dispensed once every three months and later to once a month,which put a strain on the sick and especially the elderly.

Many also found these generic medicines unsuitable as they suffered unpleasant side effects such as swelling of the tongue and neck, rashes and stomach problems. However, when patients told their doctors about these unpleasant reactions, they were able to prescribe the original ones which could be purchased by government servants and pensioners through Oratis, which then claimed the cost from the Government.

This system changed in July 2017 when the services of Oratis were terminated, and government servants and pensioners were then required to claim directly from the Government. This system was subsequently stopped in 2018 and all claims were stopped.

For example, I suffered internal bleeding in my right eye and had to undergo treatment involving a series of injections which cost around RM1,400 per month. In the past, the cost would have been borne by the Government but I had to pay for it. I was later scheduled for a laser treatment but my claim was also turned down by the Government, so I also had to pay for it.

I am not alone in this predicament because I know people who are heart patients, diabetic patients and cancer patients who are in a similar situation.

I am appealing to the new government to reverse this trend and at least allow pensioners, who have only their pensions to live on, to get better treatment and the original medicines if the generic ones are found to be unsuitable. ALOYSIUS B. MARBECK Kuala Lumpur