PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Health (MOH) will focus on addressing its human resource challenges, including staff shortages and maldistribution, this year, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
He explained that these issues will be tackled through a whole-of-government approach, ensuring the implementation of effective human resource planning and deployment.
“This requires collaboration across government agencies, including the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Department,” he said.
“I am aware that the public is counting on us to resolve this issue. Insya-Allah, we will do our best. We have a dedicated team working on this,” he said during a press conference, after delivering his New Year mandate to MOH staff, today.
In his mandate, Dzulkefly outlined his vision for the MOH workforce to implement national healthcare initiatives, this year.
He said that under his leadership, the MOH will focus on implementing a series of action plans, which have been in the works for the past two years.
Dzulkefly emphasised that one of the ministry’s key priorities in 2025 would be raising public awareness of the importance of disease prevention.
“The focus is to address the disease burden more proactively and comprehensively, through preventive measures and screening,” he said.
He also disclosed that the ministry plans to transform the country’s healthcare financing system and tackle the issue of rising medical costs by introducing Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) and Clinical Risk Groups (CRG).
“To achieve this, the National Health Financing Mechanism Committee, based on DRG, was established in July 2024, among other objectives, to set the strategic direction for the national health payment system,” he added.
“Members of the committee include representatives from six ministries, statutory bodies such as Bank Negara Malaysia, insurance providers, the Malaysian Medical Association, the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia, public university hospitals, armed forces hospitals, and other relevant organisations.
He also mentioned that the ministry would gradually emphasise the importance of private health insurance (PHI) to the public.
Furthermore, he pointed out that there are individuals within the T20 group who lack insurance coverage, and often pay out of pocket, which contributes to rising medical costs. Therefore, it is crucial to encourage them to understand the role of PHI.
