Private hospitals can help ease the strain

Hospital woes: Dr Sharifa Ezat says scaling up initiatives such as the Peka B40 and Madani medical scheme may reduce wait times to be admitted to wards and lessen the burden on public health cli­nics. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: Thiran, who has been a civil servant for 35 years, struggles to walk every day and his doctors told him he needs knee replacement surgery on both legs, which costs RM50,000.

His only viable option is a government hospital but the only available slot for the procedure is in 2028.