PETALING JAYA, 21 Jun -- Menteri Kesihatan Khairy Jamaluddin pada sidang media selepas Majlis Perasmian dan Sesi Dialog sempena Persidangan Pengarah-pengarah Hospital Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) hari ini. Beliau berkata usaha memperkukuhkan sektor kesihatan awam perlu dibuat mulai sekarang kerana banyak lagi pandemik mungkin dihadapi negara. -- fotoBERNAMA (2022) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA
KUALA LUMPUR: Efforts to strengthen the country's public health system must be made from now on, to enable the Health Ministry to address public health problems in the coming years, says Khairy Jamaluddin.
The Health Minister said this after taking into account the lessons from Covid-19, as well as the possibility of other pandemics occurring in the future.
"We know that the Covid-19 pandemic is not the only pandemic that humans will face and we will face many more pandemics. This is not going to be the last pandemic,” he said.
Therefore, he said the transformation that adopts the concept of value-based healthcare must be implemented at the hospital level, in order to produce the desired health solutions.
"Through this step, we will be able to understand the value of investments that need to be made, thus, we believe that spending will be more efficient while enabling us to increase equality or equity of health, with investments based on value-based healthcare,” he said at a press conference after opening a dialogue session in conjunction with the Health Ministry hospital directors’ conference.
On the medicine supply shortage, Khairy said the ministry always monitors the issue, especially involving medicines that contain active ingredients.
He said that based on random checks carried out by the ministry recently, it was found that 85% of the 47 health facilities, involving private hospitals, clinics, and community pharmacies, experienced at least one type of drug shortage.
"Most of them are medicines used for common illnesses such as cough, cold, fever and antibiotics for children,” he said.
Khairy said as of June 16, a total of 1,231 products with active ingredients have been sent to product registration holders to get feedback in terms of availability.
"We have received 50% feedback from product registration holders. Any products that are in shortage, with alternative products, have been reported to the hospital association and so on, so that they can obtain alternative medicines.
"Secondly, as I announced last week, the ministry has agreed to lend medicines to private health facilities that do not have enough supply of medicines,” he said, adding that the shortage of medicines in the country is expected to stabilise next month. - Bernama
