The influential Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) is set to embark on a national campaign to mobilise support against the government's plan to privatise the two most crucial sectors affecting the people - access to healthcare and water services.

MTUC secretary-general G Rajasekaran said the congress will join forces with other existing initiatives, such as the coalition against healthcare services privatisation and the coalition against water privatisation, to step up pressure against the government to scrap both plans.

The congress will kick off its campaign at the annual May Day gathering this year which will be held tomorrow. A crowd of 5,000 workers from all over the country is expected. Handbills will be distributed during the event to raise their awareness on the issues.

"We have to show to the government that the people are concerned with the privatisation plans that will affect all of us," Rajasekaran told the 100-odd union leaders gathered at a forum held at MTUC headquarters yesterday.

The proposal of having a national campaign against the government's privatisation plans was repeatedly suggested by union leaders during the forum's dialogue session. They wanted the MTUC to play a more active role in opposing the privatisation plans.

The one-day forum, held in conjunction with the international commemoration day for the dead and injured workers, featured two talks on the water and healthcare services.

Corporatisation, privatisation

Social activist Dr D Jeyakumar said the government's concept of 'Malaysia Incorporated' dated back to the 1980s and promoted by then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad could have paved the way for the privatisation on healthcare services today.

"Under the concept, the government had encouraged the opening of private hospitals and as a result, many specialists left government hospitals to join the private sector which offered better wages," he noted.

The brain drain in government hospitals then had eroded its services up to a stage when the public even feared to receive medical treatment from these hospitals due to scepticism of its quality.

The situation worsened with the corporatisation move such as when the cardiology unit at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital was corporatised to be the National Heart Institute, as well as all the hospital universities, resulting in the public having to pay for treatment from medical experts, Jeyakumar explained.

The corporatisation move continued with the privatisation of healthcare services such as the privatisation of the general medical store in 1993. The contract was awarded to Southern Task Force, a Renong subsidiary. This resulted in the medical costs skyrocketing 200 percent.

In 1996, the Health Ministry privatised support services of five hospitals and among companies given the contracts were Faber Mediserve (another Renong subsidiary) and Tongkah Medivest which is linked to Mahathir's son, Mokzani Mahathir.

The amount spent on these support services after privatisation witnessed a jump from RM140 million in 1996 to RM450 million in 1997, an increase of 325 percent.

The construction of hospitals and medical check-up for foreign workers were also privatised later.

These privatisations had resulted in the current free healthcare system which is said to be unsustainable and prompted the government to consider to launch the national healthcare financing scheme (NHFS).

The government has cited the budget allocations for healthcare, which was RM1 billion in 1983 and ballooned to RM9 billion last year, to back its plan to launch the scheme.

More details needed

Jeyakumar questioned why the people have to pay more to cover the cost for the privatisation of essential services.

"We also would like to know the government's mechanism to ensure the NHFS will not be abused as a platform to award contracts worth billions to companies without subject to an open tender process," he said.

Another speaker, Dr Chee Heng Leng, called for more details to be divulged on the NHFS which has been shrouded in secrecy since the government's announcement.

Representing the Citizen Health Initiative at the forum, she said the people must now demand to know what is actually happening in the NHFS and not to wait until the scheme is adopted by the government.

Chee, who is attached to the National University of Singapore, also suggested to the MTUC to propose a medical fee schedule based on the workers' affordability as opposed to the current one fixed by the Malaysian Medical Association which "fight for the doctors".

Economist Charles Santiago shared his views on water privatisation and reiterated his opposition to the move. He also noted the possibility of mounting a legal challenge against the water privatisation move since access to water should be guaranteed by the government.