No improvement under privatised healthcare
The privatisation of healthcare services have not led to improved access to healthcare or an improvement in the quality of service due to the lack of transparency and accountability in the privatisation process, coordinator of the Citizens Health Initiative (CHI) Dr Chan Chee Khoon said today.
Speaking at the National Healthcare Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Chan contended that the track record of the privatised components of government healthcare, notably the pharmaceutical and hospital support services, contrasts sharply with the official rhetoric of a cost-conscious, client-responsive service.
According to Chan, steep increases in prices have been recorded for many pharmaceutical products after the Government Medical Store was privatised - for example, the price of narcotic analgesics increased by 1,500 percent.
Further, there are indications that the 1996 privatisation of hospital support services - laundry, hospital equipment and facilities maintenance, cleansing services and clinical waste disposal - has resulted in dramatic increases in operational costs, of as much as three to fourfold, without commensurate expansion of services or gains in quality.
"We are now painfully aware of what can happen in the absence of transparent, accountable oversight and review," he said.
"Perhaps because of this, we see cutbacks in patient services and increased out-of-pocket payments for heart patient services and medications, surgical plates and screws for orthopedic cases, anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS patients, as well as many routine clinical tests."
While Chan acknowledged the problem of meeting new healthcare challenges with an understaffed and underfunded public health service, he maintained that the solution does not lie with privatisation of public healthcare or with a policy based on the rationing of healthcare by the market, notably through privatisation of health services or by the introduction of profit-oriented managed care.
"What is needed instead is a determined effort to reinvigorate the public sector with infusions of personnel, resources and, most importantly, a willingness to take all necessary steps to boost morale and motivation so that affordable healthcare of quality continues to be provided on the basis of need," he said.
Chan emphasised that a reliable, motivated and competent public sector plays an important role as a benchmark for quality, and acts as a competitive price check against excessive price increases in the private sector.
"Hence, it is in the interest of clients in both the public and private sectors that competent, accessible healthcare continues to be provided by the public sector," he said.
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