JEMPOL: The RM36.1bil record budget allocated to the Health Ministry will among others be used to upgrade government health facilities and rural clinics, some of which were built more than half a century ago, says the Prime Minister.
Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the allocation was necessary to ensure the people will continue to get the best healthcare services possible.
"Some of these facilities including in Sabah and Sarawak are made out of wood and in bad shape and need to be upgraded.
"That is why we have decided to give the ministry a higher budget so this can be done," he said at the Jelajah Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia.
Also present was Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Ismail Sabri said similarly, a higher budget was also given to the Higher Education and Education ministries.
He said there were schools that were also in need of dire repairs throughout the country.
"We also want to ensure needy undergrads at institutes of higher learning have tablets and allowances so that they can focus on their studies," he said.
Earlier, Khairy thanked Ismail Sabri for the allocation, adding that this would motivate ministry staff to work even harder.
"We can now also focus more on educating Malaysians on healthy living so we can bring down non-communicable disease cases (NCDs).
"This is important because once we are out of Covid-19, we do not want to get caught in the NCD trap," he said.
Citing an example, he said of the 5,904 people who underwent medical screening at government health facilities in Negri Sembilan as of Oct 6 this year, 52% were confirmed to be suffering from NCDs.
Another 43% were in the high-risk group for leading unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.
Khairy said he has been getting many messages from doctors, nurses and other ministry staff who expressed their happiness on the higher budget.
"This is also a recognition of the sacrifices made by ministry staff, including those who have passed on due to Covid19," he added.
