PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today vowed that the Barisan Nasional-led government will continue to provide quality healthcare facilities for the people.
He said the increase in the Health Ministry’s budget for 2018 at about RM27 billion from RM26 billion in 2017 reflected the BN government’s commitment in the aspect of healthcare.
“Our pledges are not empty promises. We act on them and our healthcare sector has received international recognition,” he said, citing one of the recognitions by the International Living magazine which placed Malaysia’s healthcare services among the best five in the world.
Since BN has put healthcare and a healthy lifestyle as one of its key thrusts in the coalition’s manifesto, he said people can rest assured that they will have access to quality medical facilities in the future.
The Prime Minister said this at the launch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Also present was Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, Health Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Chen Chaw Min and Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Najib also urged Malaysians to adopt a healthy lifestyle including eating right, getting enough sleep and exercising.
“Early health secreening is important especially in detecting cancer.
“Should we manage to detect the disease at an early stage, the prognosis will be better and the treatment cost will be lesser,” he said.
Since the NCI began operations in 2013, Najib said there has been a drastic increase in the number of patients seeking treatment at the institute.
“When it first started, there were only 505 patients in 2013 and the number rose to 10,864 patients in 2014.
“Last year, the NCI has received
37,452 patients, a 244 per cent increase from 2014,” he said.
Located on a 10.65 acre land next to Hospital Putrajaya, the RM700 million NCI project was completed on Aug 16, 2013, two weeks ahead of its three-year contract completion date.
The facilities at NCI include seven floors of wards, two basement floors and 252 in-patient beds with a Nuclear Waste Treatment System of international standards for gathering and disposing of radioactive waste.
It is also equipped with an Intensive Care Unit, four operation theatres, an Oncology Daily Treatment Unit, and outpatient clinics dealing in oncology, nuclear medicine and a multi-disciplinary clinic.
NCI was the brainchild of the late Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, the wife of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who passed away of breast cancer.
Najib also paid tribute to Abdullah at the ceremony.
“Due to health reasons, Pak Lah cannot be here with us today. But, I still want to read a poem for him.”
The poem is:
“Sungguh pun di negeri Selangor terjumpa baldi (Although we find water pails in Selangor);
Kes denggi tertinggi di Darul Ehsan tetap kita perangi (The highest dengue cases are in Darul Ehsan which we continue to combat);
Biarlah ‘pemimpin itu’ membawa hati ke Pulau Langkawi (Let it be that the ‘particular leader’ brings his heavy heart to Langkawi);
Namun, paling penting (What is most important);
Pak Lah tetap setia (Pak Lah remains loyal);
kekal di sisi (remains at our side).”
Reports by AZURA ABAS, IRWAN SHAFRIZAN ISMAIL AND MOHD HUSNI MOHD NOOR
