Alternative methods to help treat rare disease patients

Newborn blood spot testing, also known as a heel prick test, allows a baby’s blood to be tested for 40 to 50 inherited metabolic diseases, as well as providing the option for genetic sequencing to detect other rare diseases. — TNS

Over the last few years, the annual Budget has regularly included a special allocation for rare disease patients – an amount that was gradually increased over the years.

In the old Budget 2023, tabled in Parliament on Oct 7, 2022, this allocation was increased to RM25 million from Budget 2022’s amount of RM20mil.