Health minister: Mission is to transform healthcare within 15th Parliament timeframe

Putrajaya, September 29 — Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad has set a goal to transform the national healthcare system and improve patient service delivery within the 15th parliamentary term. The Ministry of Health faces significant challenges in maintaining facilities and consistently meeting the people's healthcare needs. Streamlining existing systems, enhancing healthcare delivery, and focusing on patient experience and journey are key priorities of the ministry's initiatives.

Dzulkefly emphasized that the Ministry, being facility-based and service-based, faces a multitude of problems. As the Health Minister, Secretary-General Hasnol Zam Zam Ahmad, and Health Director-General Datuk Dr Mahathar Abd Wahab, the challenge lies in fulfilling the ambition of building a modern healthcare system and delivery within the parliamentary term. The minister vowed to deliver the initiatives as soon as possible, regardless of the method, platform, or initiative chosen.

The Ministry of Health is also grappling with complex challenges, such as food safety and quality, mental health, and planetary health. To strengthen healthcare transformation, the Ministry is focusing on digitalisation and interoperability across health systems and facilities. This includes the implementation of electronic medical records, enabling public and private facilities to share data.

One example of the Ministry's efforts is the Financing for the Medicine-by-Post Initiative (UMP), which allows patients to obtain follow-up medication without visiting a health facility to collect it. This initiative aims to improve patient experience, reduce congestion at hospitals, and provide better treatment. Dzulkefly highlighted that efforts to improve follow-up medicine delivery have been ongoing for the past decade, with various pharmacy initiatives rolled out, such as Drive-Through Pharmacy, Locker4U, Local Follow-Up Medicine Supply Centre, UMP, and the MyUbat app.