Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad says healthcare delivery, medicine supplies and health infrastructure projects will continue despite RM500 million spending curbs.
PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry has reduced a proposed RM3.06 billion spending cut by the Finance Ministry to a RM500 million spending restriction, equivalent to just 1.07% of its RM46.52 billion allocation for 2026, while assuring that public healthcare services, medicine supplies and development projects will remain unaffected.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told Parliament today that the Finance Ministry had accepted the ministry’s proposal, ensuring that healthcare delivery nationwide, including in Sabah, would continue without disruption.
“The Finance Ministry has agreed to our proposal, and I can assure that the Health Ministry’s healthcare services and service delivery nationwide, including in Sabah, will not be affected,” he said.
Dzulkefly was responding to a question from Datuk Shahelmey Yahya (BN–Putatan) on how the government’s fiscal adjustment measures would avoid disrupting healthcare services and the development of health facilities, particularly in Sabah.
He also answered related questions from Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias (BN–Jelebu) and Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PN–Kuala Langat) on whether the proposed spending cuts would affect public hospitals, government clinics and healthcare programmes.
He said the fiscal adjustment was driven by a challenging global economic environment in 2026, marked by geopolitical uncertainties, particularly the conflict in West Asia, which has disrupted global supply chains and pushed up logistics costs.
Following a directive from the Finance Ministry on April 29 requiring all ministries to review their 2026 expenditure estimates, the Health Ministry assessed its financial commitments, including the operations of healthcare facilities nationwide, existing contractual obligations, stocks of medicines and medical consumables, workforce recruitment and staffing projections, the operation of new health facilities and the implementation of new government initiatives.
Based on the review, the ministry proposed a RM500 million spending restriction instead of the RM3.06 billion reduction initially sought by the Finance Ministry.
Dzulkefly stressed that the adjustment would not affect operational funding for essential healthcare services, including medicines, medical consumables, raw materials, utilities and other critical operating expenses.
“Staff allowances, training programmes and the procurement of non-critical medical assets would also remain unaffected,” he said.
He added that the fiscal adjustment does not involve development expenditure, with the ministry’s full 2026 development allocation remaining intact.
“All development allocation ceilings remain as originally approved, and all health infrastructure projects nationwide, including in Sabah, will proceed as planned without disruption,” he said.
Dzulkefly said the outcome reflects the government’s commitment to protecting public healthcare services while maintaining prudent fiscal management amid global economic challenges.
