PETALING JAYA: With a RM46.5bil allocation for the Health Ministry, an increase from RM45.3bil last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says the government is focused on addressing patient congestion at public healthcare centres.
Anwar said the government will set aside RM140mil to ease congestion in public hospitals by outsourcing patients to military, university and private hospitals.
To further reduce dependence on public hospitals, he said RM30mil will be spent to enhance health clinics by providing the services of specialist doctors.
He said that to maintain adequate pharmaceutical supplies and security, the government will initiate public-private partnerships for essential medicines.
Medical staff have reason to celebrate with perks announced in the 2026 Budget, such as specialists' holiday rates rising from RM250 to RM350 and on-call duty allowance (ETAP) rising by 40% starting from this month.
Anwar said the government will also offer 4,500 contract doctors permanent positions next year on top of the 12,900 doctors who were employed earlier.
As for nurses, Anwar said 935 nursing graduates will be given permanent positions.
The premier also delivered good news for general practitioners, allowing them to charge higher consultation fees of between RM10 to RM80, compared to RM10 to RM35 previously.
In a move to discourage smoking, Anwar said excise duties on cigarettes will rise by 2 sen per stick, cigars by RM40 per kg, and heated tobacco by RM20 per kg from November 1 this year while nicotine therapy products including sprays and lozenges will have import duty and sales tax exemptions extended until December 31, 2027.
