Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek today assured that dispensaries in public hospitals will not be privatised as reported and claimed he had been misquoted on the issue, according to social activist Dr D Jeyakumar today.

Jeyakumar, who is also pro-tem Parti Sosialis Malaysia central committee member, led a 10 member delegation to meet with Chua at his ministry in Putrajaya.

The delegation was part of the 400 protestors from all over the country who had gathered at the ministry to submit a memorandum on the reported privatisation plans.

"The government said it is considering the option of opening private dispensaries in parallel with government dispensaries placed in government (public) hospitals," said Jeyakumar when contacted later.

He said Chua had told him the government plans to set up the private dispensaries in the Selayang and Putrajaya hospitals first.

"When we asked him (Chua) why he had not clarified the matter in the press, he said he tried to but it was not reported (in the mainstream media)," added the activist.

Jeyakumar said he was glad with the explanation and hoped that the government would keep its word.

Good governance

The medical doctor, known for giving free treatment to the poor, also said the government must practise good governance and ensure the country's poor have access to adequate medical care.

"(Financially) poor patients have less access to medical care. For example, a patient with heart condition in Ipoh is forced to travel to Penang for treatment as there is no cardiology unit in the Ipoh GH," said Jeyakumar, adding that an appointment had to be made seven months in advance.

He also touched on the large disparity between those who can afford private medical care and those who cannot.

"For government employees and government pensioners with heart problems, medical care is available to them at the Institute Jantung Negara (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur," he said.

However, Jeyakumar added that when he raised these issues with Chua, he did not get a reply.

Privatisation to blame

The PSM leader blamed privatisation of medical related facilities and the government's "neo-liberal" approach for the dire state of affairs the public medical care system is currently in.

"For the past 15 years the government has been trying to pass on medical costs to the ordinary Malaysian. There has been a neo-liberal trend by the government," he said.

He cited the example of medical supplies to government hospitals being monopolised by private concessionaires - which charge higher prices - since 1993.

"The government says that medical costs have increased from RM1 billion to RM7 billion over the years. This is because of privatisation.

"The government claims you can get medical care for RM1 but what are we really getting...? (in government hospitals)," he asked.

The memorandum submitted this morning was signed by 81 opposition parties and non-governmental organisations

"There has been tremendous support calling on the government to stop its (reported) plans to privatise dispensaries," said PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan.