The Government is only contributing 2.3 to 2.5 per cent of the GNP, he says. He feels that given the advent of chronic and new illnesses as well as diseases of the affluent like diabetes, hypertension and cancer, the cost of treatment is going to prove to be very costly for the public, as Government funding is inadequate. He says that should the Government's contribution to the GNP allocation be increased, a unified financing scheme encompassing and ultimately merging the private and public sectors must nevertheless come into place. To have quality care in public or private healthcare facilites, a Health Financing Scheme or some form of financing scheme must be in place so that we can have a level of healthcare which is acceptable to everyone. The scheme is financed by Government taxation, additional payments made by individuals to top-up the Government's contribution and tax from the sale of alcohol, cigarettes and tobacco.
Nobody is excluded under the scheme.
Each individual would be issued a card for the purpose of access to these services. To run on a unified financing system, the SIS would involve the merging of the private and public sectors. To the average Malaysian, by way of analogy, this would mean having a choice of patronising any public or private hospital for the same treatment at the same price. Established in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia, Syed Aljunid sees no reason why the scheme cannot be adopted here. We have everything in place.