Healthcare in Malaysia
Encyclopedia
Healthcare in Malaysia is mainly under the responsibility of the government's Ministry of Health. Malaysia generally has an efficient and widespread system of health care, operating a two-tier health care
Two-tier health care
Two-tier health care is a term used to describe a situation that arises when there is a basic health care system financed by government providing medically necessary but perhaps quite basic health care services, and a secondary tier of care for those with access to more funds who can purchase...

 system consisting of both a government-run universal healthcare system and a co-existing private healthcare system. Infant mortality rate – a standard in determining the overall efficiency of healthcare – in 2005 was 10, comparing favourably with the United States and western Europe. Life expectancy at birth in 2005 was 74 years.

History of Healthcare in Malaysia

Healthcare in Malaysia has undergone radical transformations. Earliest pre-colonial medical care was confined to traditional remedies current among local populations of Malays, Chinese
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese is a Malaysian of Chinese origin. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Within Malaysia, they are usually simply referred to as "Chinese" in all languages. The term Chinese Malaysian is also sometimes used to refer to...

 and other ethnic groups. The advent of colonialism brought western medical practice into the country. Since the country's independence in August 1957, the system of medical care transferred from the British colonial rule has been transformed to meet the needs of emerging diseases, as well as national political requirements.

Healthcare today in Malaysia

Malaysia has a widespread system of health care. It implements a universal healthcare system, which co-exists with the private healthcare system. Infant mortality rate – a standard in determining the overall efficiency of healthcare – in 2005 was 10, comparing favourably with the United States and western Europe. Life expectancy at birth in 2005 was 74 years.

Healthcare in Malaysia is divided into private and public sectors. Malaysian society places importance on the expansion and development of healthcare, putting 5% of the government social sector development budget into public healthcare
Publicly-funded health care
Publicly funded health care is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most health care needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are set down in rules applying to the whole population...

 — an increase of more than 47% over the previous figure. This has meant an overall increase of more than RM 2 billion. With a rising and aging population, the Government wishes to improve in many areas including the refurbishment of existing hospitals, building and equipping new hospitals, expansion of the number of polyclinics, and improvements in training and expansion of telehealth
Telehealth
Telehealth is the delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies. Telehealth could be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone or as sophisticated as doing robotic surgery between facilities at different ends of the...

. Over the last couple of years they have increased their efforts to overhaul the systems and attract more foreign investment.

The Malaysian health care system requires doctors to perform a compulsory three years service with public hospitals to ensure that the manpower in these hospitals is maintained. Doctors are required to perform 4 years including 2 years of housemanship and 2 years government service with public hospitals throughout the nation, ensuring adequate coverage of medical needs for the general population. Foreign doctors are encouraged to apply for employment in Malaysia, especially if they are qualified to a higher level. There is still, however, a significant shortage in the medical workforce, especially of highly trained specialists; thus, certain medical care and treatment are available only in large cities. Recent efforts to bring many facilities to other towns have been hampered by lack of expertise to run the available equipment. As a result certain medical care and treatment is available only in large cities.

The majority of private hospitals are in urban areas and, unlike many of the public hospitals, are equipped with the latest diagnostic and imaging facilities. Private hospitals have not generally been seen as an ideal investment—it has often taken up to ten years before companies have seen any profits. However, the situation has now changed and companies are now exploring this area again, corresponding with the increased number of foreigners entering Malaysia for medical care and the recent government focus on developing the health tourism
Medical tourism
Medical tourism is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of travelling across international borders to obtain health care...

 industry. The Government has also been trying to promote Malaysia as a health care destination, regionally and internationally.

Government policy and action

The Malaysian government places importance on the expansion and development of health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...

, putting 5% of the government social sector development budget into public health care—an increase of more than 47% over the previous figure. This has meant an overall increase of more than RM 2 billion. With a rising and aging population, the Government wishes to improve in many areas including the refurbishment of existing hospitals, building and equipping new hospitals, expansion of the number of polyclinics, and improvements in training and expansion of telehealth
Telehealth
Telehealth is the delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies. Telehealth could be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone or as sophisticated as doing robotic surgery between facilities at different ends of the...

. A major problem with the health care sector is the lack of medical centres for rural areas, which the government is trying to counter through the development of and expansion of a system called "tele-primary care
Telehealth
Telehealth is the delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies. Telehealth could be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone or as sophisticated as doing robotic surgery between facilities at different ends of the...

". Another issue is the overperscription of drugs, though this has decreased in recent years. Over the last couple of years, the Malaysian Health Ministry has increased its efforts to overhaul the system and attract more foreign investment.

Influenza

The Malaysian government has developed a National Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan (NIPPP) which serves as a time bound guide for preparedness and response plan for influenza pandemic. It provides a policy and strategic framework for a multisectoral response and contains specific advice and actions to be undertaken by the Ministry of Health at the different levels, other governmental departments and agencies and non governmental organizations to ensure that resources are mobilized and used most efficiently before, during and after a pandemic episode.

Since the Nipah
Henipavirus
Henipavirus is a genus of the family Paramyxoviridae, order Mononegavirales containing two established species, Hendra virus and Nipah virus. The henipaviruses are naturally harboured by Pteropid fruit bats , and some microbat species...

 virus outbreak in 1999, the Malaysian Health Ministry have put in place processes to be better prepared to protect the Malaysian population from the threat of infectious diseases. Malaysia was fully prepared during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...

 situation (Malaysia was not a SARS affected country) and the episode of the H5N1 (bird flu) outbreak in 2004.

Medicine via Post

In January of 2011 the Malaysia government launched a program to renew prescriptions via mail. Medicine via Post targets patients with chronic diseases. In order to be eligible to participate patients have to receive a certification from a pharmacist that their condition is stable and that they understand how to properly use their medication. Patients pay delivery costs which are RM3.5 in Putrajaya, RM5.0 for other locations in Peninsular Malaysia, and RM8.0 for Sabah and Sarawak. The program is based on a pilot-project conducted at Putrajaya Hospital started in October 2009.

List of Medical schools in Malaysia

Recognized by the Malaysian Medical Council as of 1 November 2009[2] :

1) Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur.

2) School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Universiti Sains Malaysia is a public university with its main campus in Penang, Malaysia. There are three branch campuses: one in mainland Penang , one in Kelantan on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, and a offshore collaboration with a university in India...

, Health Campus, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan.

3) Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
The National University of Malaysia is a public university located in Bangi, Selangor which is about 35 km south of Kuala Lumpur...

, 43600 Bangi, Selangor.

4) Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak or UNIMAS was officially incorporated on 24 December 1992. UNIMAS is Malaysia's eighth University, established just after the declaration of Vision 2020...



5) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Universiti Putra Malaysia , or UPM, is a leading research intensive public university located in central Peninsular Malaysia, close to the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. It was formerly known as Universiti Pertanian Malaysia or Agricultural University of Malaysia...

, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

6) Faculty of Medicine & Health Science, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kota Campus, Jalan Sultan Mahmud, 20400 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.

7) Penang Medical College
Penang Medical College
Penang Medical College is a partnership in medical education between the Penang State Government and the Irish Medical Colleges of the National University of Ireland : the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the University College Dublin...



8) International Medical University
International Medical University
The International Medical University is a private international medical university in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It offers courses such as Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nursing as well as postgraduate studies...



9) Kulliyyah of Medicine, International Islamic University Malaysia
International Islamic University Malaysia
The International Islamic University Malaysia , also known as IIUM or UIAM, is a public publicly-funded university in Malaysia. Its main campus is located in Gombak, Selangor with its situated in Petaling Jaya / Nilai and its medical-centric branch in Kuantan, Pahang. The university is sponsored...



10) Perak College of Medicine

11) Melaka Manipal Medical College
Melaka Manipal Medical College
Melaka Manipal Medical College is a Malaysian private medical college which offers 2 twinning undergraduate degrees, the Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery degree and also the Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree...



12) Royal College of Medicine Perak

13) Aimst University
AIMST University
The Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology University, founded on 15 March 2001, is a private university in Malaysia established by the Maju Institute of Educational Development , the educational arm of the Malaysian Indian Congress , a component party of the Barisan Nasional...



14) Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Universiti Teknologi MARA
Universiti Teknologi MARA is a coeducational public university with its main campus located in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.It is the flagship institution of the Universiti Teknologi MARA...



15) Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Universiti Malaysia Sabah or UMS is the ninth Malaysian public university located in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia and was established on November 24, 1994...



16) Allianze College of Medical Sciences (ACMS)

17) Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences

External links

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