Aid for next of kin
Consider financial aid for families who lose their loved ones to Covid-19, say experts.
AT 19, Nazurah Nabilah Benjayeed should have her whole life ahead of her.
Instead, the polytechnic student from Rawang, Selangor, had her future dreams cut short when she lost both her parents to Covid-19 in a span of three days last month.
Not only that, as the oldest daughter, Nazurah found herself the sole caretaker of her seven siblings, the youngest of whom is only four years old.
Their plight drew the attention of members of the public, the government, and charitable bodies who offered aid to the siblings.
Recognising that this is not an isolated case, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that those facing similar circumstances across the country, where children lose their parents to Covid-19, will be identified so that assistance can be provided to the affected families.
Tragic situations like these are unfortunately growing in number as the country battles surging cases and a record number of daily deaths. At the same time many others are grappling with economic strain, salary cuts, and job losses due to the pandemic.
Financial aid to bereaved family members of those who die from Covid-19 can help lessen their hardships in these exceptionally challenging times.
The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) provides a one-off special assistance of RM5,000 to Malaysian citizens for the funeral management of their next of kin who die of Covid-19 in the country. So far, the agency has channelled Rm10.3mil to the next of kin of 2,061 individuals who have died from the virus under the Special Assistance of Covid-19 Death Management. An application must be made to the Health Ministry to receive the aid. This initiative is a welcome addition to the various existing Covid-19 social protection measures for the public which includes direct cash assistance, income protection schemes, tax relief incentives, targeted medical and insurance support, and direct in-kind assistance such as food basket aid and discounts on utility bills.
Covid-19 fatalities in Malaysia currently stands at more than 12,200 deaths, with about 1.4 million cumulative cases to date since the outbreak. While Malaysia does not provide specific payouts for families of those who die from Covid-19, it does however have a Rm10mil fund to provide financial aid in the unlikely event a person experiences serious side effects from Covid-19 vaccines, ranging from RM50,000 to RM500,000 depending on the degree of severity.
This has prompted calls for the government to pay compensation to the families of Covid-19 patients who die, especially before they are able to receive their vaccinations.
Similar claims for compensation have been made in other countries that have faced the devastating consequences of the pandemic.
In its recent report, “Comparative Analysis of Government Assistance during Covid-19”, the Finance Ministry’s Laksana agency has also put forward a suggestion for Covid-19 payouts for family members or dependents of those who die due to Covid-19 as part of its pandemic assistance initiatives.
The pandemic’s social cost
Prof Niaz Asadullah, who specialises in development and social economics at Universiti Malaya, is supportive of providing payouts for families of those who die from Covid-19 as he argues that the social cost of not providing fiscal support to the thousands of families affected by Covid-19 deaths could be much greater.
“Let’s not forget that the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 demands protection for the weak and vulnerable. That said, funds are limited and the government has too many competing expenditure needs. So we must prioritise the most vulnerable groups -- such as members of B40 communities (where the deceased was the only income earning member of the household) and frontline workers who died while fighting the battle against the pandemic,” he explains.
Prof Niaz points out that some developing and developed countries have also introduced various compensation packages such as one-off payments to surviving members of the family, monthly pensions to the surviving spouse, and assistance for funeral expenses.
“For many affected Malaysians, Covid-19 death is not just an unexpected loss of loved ones, it can also mean losing the sole breadwinner. Therefore, the payout proposal has merit on equity grounds,” says Prof Niaz.
However, he says the support should be targeted – restricted to family members of the deceased who were of working age, and from B40 and M40 income groups. Assistance can also focus on essential family expenditure, for example, payouts in the form of educational expenses for surviving children if both parents are lost to Covid-19.
“No one should feel that they are being left alone in such a difficult time. A responsive government that creates clear provisions for Covid-19 victims can restore trust among citizens. Without such measures, the pandemic will create new divisions in society,” says Prof Niaz.
Compassionate relief
“I think on compassionate grounds, it is appropriate for the government to look at some form of relief for families of those who suffered Covid-19 deaths,” says Dr Yeah Kim Leng, a professor of economics at Sunway University.
Prof Yeah says that Covid-19 death financial relief can be carried out as a blanket policy, but it can also be targeted to B40 communities, or a have policy where a larger sum is provided to needy communities.
“This will be a welcome initiative to alleviate the economic burden of people badly impacted by the pandemic, given that this is the most dire consequence of Covid19,”
says Prof Yeah.
“Apart from losing someone to Covid-19, there is also a psychological impact and it could involve loss of livelihood. Families will be severely impacted, both psychologically and economically, especially if the deceased was the head of household,” he says.
Prof Yeah points out that burial and funeral costs have also escalated, and some form of relief from the government will be timely to help reduce the other rising costs involved, which could include treatment and other unexpected expenses. Compassionate relief in the range of RM3,000 to RM4,000 would be reasonable, he says.
“If you look at our current debt situation, the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is still just slightly below 60%. The Finance Minister [Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz] is looking to raise the debt ceiling to 65% in the coming parliamentary sitting. This is not an issue given that most developed economies now have a debt-gdp ratio of above 100%. This would enable Malaysia to finance all the deficit expenditure this year, and it will be within our capacity to provide this form of Covid-19 compensation given that our debt level is still within the manageable range,” he says.
Universiti Malaysia Sabah economist Dr Rafiq Idris, who also supports assistance for families of those who die from Covid-19, says that whether the government should introduce a blanket or targeted policy will depend on Malaysia’s aid distribution system.
“If we have a well updated system and database, efficient in identifying the needy, and efficient in channelling the aid, then we may consider a targeted one. We should not limit our list to those in e-kasih or B40 only. Many are now badly affected even though they were classified as M40 prior to Covid19,” says Dr Rafiq, whose area of interest includes health economics.
“If we do not have a systematic and up-to-date database, we may consider a blanket policy for all Malaysians, although it is expensive to do that,” he says.
E-kasih refers to the national database of Malaysian households that fall into the “poor” category.
Dr Rafiq suggests that the assistance to those affected by Covid-19 can be a combination of cash and non-cash aid, pointing to the United States’ Emergency Rental Assistance Program and the United Kingdom’s Ban on Rental Property Evictions as examples.
“Giving financial life support to affected households in Malaysia is extremely important. It is not an option,” he says.