KOTA KINABALU: The quality of health services in Malaysia today is on par with that in developed countries.
Sabah Health director Dr Yusof Ibrahim said Malaysia is comparable to advanced nations in utilising the latest medical technologies and applications to ensure top health services for its people.
“We should be proud that our health services led by public medical experts have achieved many successes. In fact, our health services are recognized by World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the best in the world. Our achievement is also acknowledged by many countries,” he said in his opening speech during the 30th Scientific Meeting on Medical Imaging (SMMI) hosted here, yesterday.
The text of his speech was delivered by his deputy Dr Adlan Suhaimi Dato’ Ahmad, who also officiated at the event on his behalf.
“In line with the 1Malaysia vision introduced by the Prime Minister towards achieving a developed nation status by 2020, various improvements have and will continue to be implemented in the healthcare sector.
“Healthcare is a vital sector that has to be included in our effort to become a developed country as it is directly related to the standard and living quality of the people, and significant towards improving the socio-economy of the country,” he added.
Yosuf said Malaysia’s healthcare and medical services had rapidly improved over the years with new technologies being made available to patients, mostly for free or minimal payment.
He noted that due to the rapidly increasing costs, many governments in the world, including those in advanced and rich countries, could no longer afford to provide free healthcare or medical treatments for their citizens.
All these countries, he added, implemented contributory health schemes where they charged patients for every treatment given and required for the patients to have medical insurance.
“Government hospitals in Malaysia on the other hand have continued to give free medical services, including medical imaging technology, which has not only allowed experts to better detect and identify diseases but also changed the way doctors treat their patients.
“The X-ray was discovered by prof Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895 and just two years after that we began to introduce it in our medical services here in Malaysia.
“Now, X-ray is used in various applications for treatment purposes, such as in general radiography, fluoroscopic X-ray, angiography, computerized tomography, mammography, radiotherapy and nuclear treatment,” he said.
Yusof also said access to health facilities and services had been further improved with the latest initiative by the government in the form of 1Malaysia Clinic.
This new service, he said, had greatly benefited the people, especially those in the rural and less developed areas where access to healthcare was still relatively limited.
SMMI is an annual event organized by the Malaysia Nuclear Agency to discuss and promote new advancement, protocol and enforcement of regulation pertaining to diagnostic imaging practices for medical treatment.
The event, similar to courses on imaging field organized by the agency has been accorded the Continuous Medical Education (CME) by the Ministry of Health.