The Consumers Association of Penang is disturbed to learn that "high-technology and expensive medical equipment in government hospitals is not in working order and in need of repair most of the time", as acknowledged by Deputy Health Minister Dr Abdul Latiff in the Dewan Rakyat this week.

Why is such a situation is allowed to persist? Why are high-technology machines being overused to the point of breakdown?

We understand that the maintenance work for hospital equipment, which was previously carried out by the government's Engineering Services Division has been privatised for some time now. Who are the people in charge of people in charge of overseeing the scheduling and implementation of maintenance work on medical equipment, and does the Ministry of Health check on their operations?

The fact that high-technology and expensive machines are in a constant state of disrepair and cannot be used should also lead to the question of whether government hospitals really need such machines. Equally effective and/or cheaper options are probably available and can be used instead.

At a time when there is so much concern over the high operating costs for the government health delivery system, CAP calls on the Ministry of Health to review and control the use of expensive technology. High-technology equipment should be limited only to the necessary.

The writer is the president of the Consumers Association of Penang .