Dzulkefly (centre) together with Syed Mohamed (left) and Ismail during the launching of KPJ Academic Health System at the Malaysia International Healthcare Megatrends 2024 yesterday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: KPJ Healthcare Bhd, Malaysia’s leading provider of private healthcare services, has launched its KPJ Academic Health System in a bid to establish education and research in hospitals nationwide.
The launch was held yesterday at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre during the Malaysia International Healthcare (MIH) Megatrends 2024 conference.
Officiating the event was Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad along with KPJ Healthcare University chairman Datuk Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim and KPJ Healthcare chairman Tan Sri Dr Ismail Bakar.
Dzulkefly lauded the system as an initiative that brings meaningful improvements to the nation’s healthcare landscape.
“By advancing medical education and research through collaboration between KPJ and KPJ University, it enables us to focus on population health, medical research, and the continuous development of our healthcare professionals,” he said.
The Health Minister said that by 2035, an estimated 15% of the population will be over the age of 60. “With that, comes a rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer,” explained Dzulkefly.
He added that with such challenges, the healthcare system must adapt accordingly to address the population’s health challenges.
Syed Mohamed, who is also Johor Corporation’s president and chief executive, emphasised the need to rethink and reimagine how healthcare works.
“It is no longer just about providing treatments, hospitals must evolve beyond being mere treatment centres by embracing cutting-edge solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI)-driven diagnostics and personalised medicine.”
He added that it was necessary to shift the focus towards preventive care and overall well-being to help create a more sustainable healthcare system.
“This vision is not born from incremental improvements, it is born from necessity and innovation as Malaysia faces a turning point with 45% of the nation’s healthcare provision coming from private hospitals.
“The KPJ Health System will lead the way by bringing together the brightest minds in healthcare by pushing the boundaries of medical research and education,” Syed Mohamed concluded.
Touted as a first of its kind in the country, the latest KPJ Academic Health System aims to align itself with the country’s long-term healthcare agenda of creating a world-class healthcare system.
The system now looks to embed education and research into hospitals to transform them into centres of learning and discovery so that practice and innovation can go hand-in-hand.
Doing so will help to enhance patient outcomes, foster continuous professional development for healthcare providers, and drive groundbreaking research to address current and future healthcare challenges.
By embracing transformative technologies like AI, quantum computing and nanomedicine, KPJ Healthcare is setting a new standard for quality healthcare services across the country, driving improved patient outcomes and fostering a new generation of highly skilled healthcare professionals.
This initiative contributes to the government’s efforts to increase access to advanced treatments, reduce healthcare disparities and support the development of specialised care centres that will cater to complex medical cases, strengthening Malaysia’s healthcare infrastructure.
The launch of the KPJ Health System follows an internal soft launch held a week earlier, during which key internal stakeholders were introduced to the system’s vision.
The KPJ Health System is designed to benefit not only KPJ Healthcare’s patients and staff but also the broader community through its research-driven approach to healthcare and focus on education.
This is through the integration of three essential pillars: “to heal”, “to teach” and “to discover” which gives birth to the organisation’s Care for Life mantra.
The healthcare event, MIH Megatrends 2024, which takes place from Oct 25-27, brings together some 3,000 healthcare industry-related players through the collaborative efforts of the Health Ministry, KPJ Healthcare and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
MIH Megatrends 2024 was officiated by His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia.
