KUALA LUMPUR: IHH Healthcare Bhd said it is supportive of the government's efforts to rein in medical inflation.
However, it believes that it is crucial to enact policies that holistically address the issue by considering the healthcare financing structure and its various stakeholders, and not focus strictly on drug price controls per se.
IHH also said it remains fully aligned with Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia’s call and efforts to continue collaborative engagement with the authorities and broader stakeholders to ensure an effective solution to tackle medical inflation in Malaysia.
Its managing director and CEO Dr Tan See Leng also said after it’a AGM he was unable to reveal the profit margins of its hospital’s drug division or IHH’s pharmaceutical division because certain more complex procedures using the same drugs required more technical expertise to administer.
IHH is the owner and operator of the Pantai and Gleneagles private hospitals in Malaysia.
Tan, 54, will be leaving the group once his contract expires on Dec 31, 2019.
Meanwhile, Dr Kelvin Loh Chi-Keon, 45, who is currently the Columbia Asia Group CEO, will take over the helm of IHH starting next year.
(An earlier version of this story titled “IHH supportive of drug price control mechanism” is now updated / corrected to this version)