The Ministry of Health (MOH) is detailing matters related to the establishment of the Health Reform Commission, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said his side was also developing a framework for the implementation of health system reforms as outlined in the Health White Paper which was presented in Parliament on 15 June last.
“In the current situation we are implementing a governance structure and the formation of various committees that we call technical working groups.
“… so about this Health Reform Commission we are also in the process of detailing and we are also engaging with experts not only from MOH but with external experts from the ministry to see what is the best way for us, whether for us to establish a Health Reform Commission or we use other words, that’s up to you..,” she said.
She said this during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today, to answer an additional question from Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PN-Kuala Langat) who wanted to know the latest status of the establishment of the commission.
Meanwhile, Dr Zaliha said that among the weaknesses of the national health system that had been identified when the country was hit by COVID-19 was that health premises and facilities could not accommodate the needs of too many patients, and the lack of equipment such as oxygen tanks and ventilators.
She said other weaknesses identified were the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), medicines, health workers, and services that did not fully use technology and digitization, in addition to the country’s health system not being prepared to face the pandemic situation at the time.
“This situation has clearly shown that there is a need to further strengthen the healthcare system to ensure that the people have fair access to resilient and smooth healthcare services,” she said.
According to Dr Zaliha said the deficiencies that were identified were inherited issues, and worsened by the unforeseen situation of COVID-19, but they were overcome as best as possible during the pandemic with various ways and approaches.
She answered a question posed by Tan Kok Wai (PH-Cheras), who wanted to know the deficiencies that had been identified in the country’s health system especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
