Supermax: Q2 net profit down 24.5% to RM26.7mil



Supermax Corporation Bhd’s second quarter ended June 30, 2014 with net profit down 24.5% to RM26.76mil from RM35.48mil a year ago.

The group told Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday that revenue for the period was down 27.8% to RM238.1mil from RM330mil a year ago.

Earnings per share for the period stood at 3.93 sen from 5.22 sen a year ago.

For its first half year, its net profit fell 21.4% to RM53.35mil from RM67.88mil a year ago while revenue declined 27.6% to RM470.37mil from RM650.54mil a year ago.
The group said its current quarter performance was affected by the fire at its Alor Gajah plant in Q4 2013 which caused a temporary loss of production output that was only fully resolved, albeit in stages, towards the end of Q2 2014.

“However, while the pre-fire capacity was regained, some capacity was temporarily lost at other factories as the group resumed its scheduled automation programme."

“The current quarter also saw average selling prices declining by between 5% and 20% across the group’s range of products. Nevertheless, we expect to see production levels returning to more normalised levels from Q3 onwards, notwithstanding the continuation of the automation programme, while Q4 onwards should benefit from the commissioning of new lines at the new plants in Meru, Klang,” it said.

Moving forward, the groups said the natural rubber latex prices extended their downtrend in the 2nd quarter of 2014, averaging RM4.65 per kg wet compared to RM4.81 in the first quarter of 2014 and RM5.62 for the whole of 2013.

“This is reflective of the ample supply of rubber in the market as well as rising concerns on slower economic growth in China, the top consumer of rubber."

“We expect nitrile latex prices to remain relatively stable with some further upside bias in the short to medium term,” it said.

Global demand for gloves remains robust, particularly for nitrile gloves.

“In the highly developed countries, the demand continues to grow at a steady and moderate pace while stronger double digits growth can be seen from the emerging markets as hygiene and healthcare awareness continue to rise as the Middle East and also Africa, not to mention Asia with China and India leading the way."

The recent and on-going Ebola disease in Africa serves to emphasise the need for disposable gloves.

/theSTAR 26-08-2014

Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

Brand Ownership?



A very basic and simple question, "Who should own the product Brand?"

A Manufacturer intends to outsource its product brand to a marketing Company. However, the Manufacturer was unsure whether this was a good decision or should the marketing Company has its own brand instead.

For the marketing Company, it sees an advantage as there is already a market brand presence and thus increasing market share would require less resources and time.

For the Manufacturing Company, as its' expertise is in manufacturing and not "marketing and sales", it sees and advantage in accelerated volume build-up and thus, revenues.

However, the Manufacturer, was hesitant whether the marketing Company would be able to "do a good job" as any failure would result in the demise of the brand!

A Brand is an "intellectual asset" and successful brand ensures Company growth and sustainability.

Many customers find comfort, assurance, safety and peace of mind, and status (for lifestyle products), in known branded products.

Thus, for a Company, owning and protecting a "product brand" is important as it does not come easy nor cheap.

Today, business strategies and structures can come in many shapes and sizes, either, as single entity or through partnerships or collaborations etc. Thus, the Manufacturer, once it understands its own core competency and capability, should work out its strategic plan in benefitting itself or any collaborative party that it desires to work with.

Thus, my advice to the Manufacturer is to revisit its core competency, capability and resource in order to determine its business objectives and direction. Business interests and activities must be aligned with its defined "Vision" and "Mission" Statements.

 /28-08-2014

Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

Hartalega: Increase Gloves output



Rubber glove maker Hartalega Holdings Bhd expects its top line growth to remain flat for its financial year ending March 31, 2015, as its operations are currently running at full production capacity.

Its executive chairman Kuan Kam Hon said however that production was expected to go up by another five billion pieces in the financial year 2016, bringing the total capacity projection to around 18 billion pieces.

“The five billion pieces represent about 40% of our existing production capacity of around 12 billion pieces. So, obviously, our bottom line will grow in absolute terms,” he told reporters after the group AGM.

Hartalega, the world’s largest synthetic glove manufacturer, registered its highest turnover to date of RM1.1bil for its financial year ended March 31.


For its first quarter ended June 30, it registered a lower net profit of RM57.1mil compared with RM62.9mil a year earlier and increased revenue of RM279.2mil from 278mil.

This increase in production capacity will begin from November, when the first two production lines at its new next generation integrated glove manufacturing complex (NGC) begin operations. The NGC is expected to provide average year-on-year capacity growth of 15% per annum over the next eight years, with total production capacity increasing to 42 billion pieces per annum once fully completed.

For the financial year 2015, Hartalega is expected to take a 2% to 3% hit to its profit margin due to internal costs spent on NGC, including staff training for the managers and engineers who would be based there.

Hartalega managing director Kuan Mun Leong said that despite the challenging economic climate and impact of lower average selling prices, the group’s results were buoyed by the robust demand for nitrile gloves. The demand had outpaced the demand for natural rubber gloves for the first time last year and was expected to continue to grow at 15% over the next two years.

During the AGM, the group recommended a final single-tier dividend of 4 sen per share, bringing the total dividend paid out for its financial year 2014 to 14.5 sen per share.

/theSTAR 27-08-2014








Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

IHH Healthcare Q2: Net profit up 33.4% to RM209.1mil



IHH Healthcare Bhd’s second quarter ended June 30, 2014 net profit rose 33.4% to RM209.1mil from RM156.75mil a year ago.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, the healthcare group said its revenue rose 11% to RM1.865bil from RM1.68bil a year ago.

Earnings per share for the period stood at 2.56 sen compared to 1.93 sen a year earlier.

For its first half year, the group’s net profit rose 29.6% to RM368.15mil from RM284.03mil a year ago while revenue was up 9.6% to RM3.622bil from RM3.304bil a year ago.
The group said its second quarter revenue increased due to an on-year growth in patient volume and revenue intensity of existing operations and the commencement of operations of Acibadem Atakent Hospital and Pantai Hospital Manjung in January 2014 and May 2014 respectively.

Parkway Pantai’s revenue grew 15% to RM1.107bil in Q2 2014 whilst its ebitda grew 21% to RM296.7mil in Q2 2014. “Parkway Pantai’s strong performance was the result of the continuous ramp up of its Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital in Singapore as well as from its other hospitals and healthcare businesses,” it said.

Meanwhile, Acibadem Holdings’ revenue and ebitda both grew by 4% to RM675.6mil and RM123.6mil respectively in Q2 2014. “Excluding the effects of the depreciation of the Turkey Lira on translation of Acibadem Holdings’ results, Acibadem Holdings’ Q2 2014 revenues increased by 12% whilst its Q2 2014 ebitda increased by 13% over last year.

“Acibadem Holdings’ Q2 2014 ebitda grew double-digit as compared to last year despite the RM2.8mil ebitda start-up losses incurred by the newly opened Acibadem Atakent Hospital,” it said.

IHH noted that IMU Health’s revenue grew 13% to RM57.6mil in Q2 2014 whilst its ebitda increased by 17% to RM23.8mil in Q2 2014. “IMU Health’s revenue growth was driven by higher student intake and increase in course fees for IMU Health’s medical and nursing programmes,” it added.

PLife Reit’s external revenue grew 37% to RM24.7mil in Q2 2014 whilst its ebitda grew 17% to RM53.2mil in Q2 2014. It said that PLife Reit’s external revenue grew on the back of rental income contribution from the Japanese properties acquired in the second half of 2013 and first quarter of 2014.

Moving forward, the group expects higher staff costs and other inflationary pressures to affect the group for the rest of the year.

“While such sustained cost pressures may reduce the group’s ebitda and margins, the group expects to mitigate these effects through price adjustments and through its operating leverage as volumes continue to grow and margins of new hospitals improve with the ramp up of inpatient admissions,” it said.

IHH said it continues to actively monitor its currency risks and will take proactive steps to minimise such risks by borrowing in the functional currency of the borrowing entity or by borrowing in the same currency as its foreign investment (i.e. hedge of net investments).

“Acibadem Holdings, which holds non-Turkish Lira denominated loans, will monitor its liquidity position to hedge its cash flows by conserving hard currency receipts from its medical travellers to service these debts and interest payments. “The group is confident that its strong balance sheet and operating cash flows would enable it to support its expansion plans,” it said. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the group expects that it would continue to achieve earnings growth for the year ahead.

/theSTAR 28-08-2014

Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

Pharmaniaga net profit rose nearly two-fold in Q2, 2014



Pharmaniaga Bhd's net profit rose nearly 172% to 15.98 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2014 compared to RM5.87 million a year earlier.

Its revenue increased by 20% to RM525.0 million from RM437.6 million.

For the six months ended June 30, 2014, the company's net profit advanced 37.7% to RM42.19 million from RM30.6 million while revenue increased to RM993.7 million from RM937.9 million.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company attributed the favourable contributions from both concession and non-concession businesses.

On its prospects, it said the company expects the recently acquired manufacturing plant in Indonesia to contribute positively towards its long term earnings as it concentrates on exploring new viable business opportunities to broaden its earnings base as well as sustain profitability in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2014.

It said the manufacturing division is a major part of the company's business strategy moving forward, focus will be on product portfolio expansion and enhancements in its research and development efforts.

While the logistics and distribution division is expected to continue generating a stable income and focusing on cost optimization measures to maintain sustained earnings.

/theSUN 22-08-2014


Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

"Face-to-Face" Communication



Communication is a great challenge today. In today's generation, many grew up in the digital age and  are more comfortable with "non-face-to-face" communications through writings,"sms", "watsapp", "wechat" etc

In fact many have more friends on "social media" like facebook rather than actual physical friends like in the time of old.

Communication skills have been lost. The younger generations are awkward, lost for verbal words and are poor in initiating and sustaining a conversation. Even, if they do , they are usually "short, straight and blunt." Communication is poor and messages poorly received and sometimes miscommunicated.

What is effective communication?

We all heard of 1) non-verbal and 2) verbal communications.

There are studies suggesting that a majority of communication is "non-verbal". 

A study by Mehrabian and Weiner (1967) and Mehrabian and Ferris (1967)  quoted 55/38/7 formula which meant 55% of the communication is body language (ie non-verbal), 38% is the tone of the voice, 7% is the actual words spoken.

Thus, we need to be conscious on "how" we deliver (ie non-verbal) rather than "what (the words ie verbal)" we communicate to the other party in order to be effective communicator.

Tone of Voice: this includes inflection, tone (low, medium or high pitch), volume and pronunciation. This is "how" things are delivered and said and therefore received.

Kinesics: this includes hand gestures, body movements, facial expressions eg waving your hands or folding your arms or leaning forward convey different messages like emphasizing a point, encouragement, diplomacy, defensiveness.

Eye-contacts: it usually connects you with the other party or audience. There is a feeling of connectivity and camaraderie. A level of trust, closeness and "rapport" usually ensue.

Personal Space or territory: individual, subconsciously, is defensive and feel threatened and become uncomfortable and hostile, if his/her personal space is being invaded.  There are appropriate conventions to this which ranges from intimate (0-45 cm), personal (45-120 cm), social (120-360 cm) and public ( greater than 360 cm). Public speaker usually stays within a certain comfortable distance depending on the room and the audience size. Moving around the audience gives the speaker a stronger presence and attention.

Tactile sense: It is the use of touch. This is powerful, although it could be inappropriate in some culture. A touch on the shoulder or wrist encourages and often connotes a certain level of closeness and friendship.

Tools: the use of IT applications, instruments, props and illustrations etc in driving a point is of importance. Clothing, accessories could also be used to communicate a role, hierarchy or social status

Finally, a combination of proper, appropriate and consistent non-verbal and verbal communications is used to deliver and drive a message with clarity or a persuasive presentation that leads to positive action in a work place.

/22-08-2014

Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

Dialysis Services Intensifies: DaVita into Malaysia



About DaVita: It is the dialysis division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc., a Fortune 500® company that, through its operating divisions, provides a variety of health care services to patient populations throughout the United States and abroad.

A leading provider of kidney care in the United States, DaVita delivers dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease.

DaVita strives to improve patients’ quality of life by innovating clinical care, and by offering integrated treatment plans, personalized care teams and convenient health-management services.

As of March 31, 2013, DaVita operated or provided administrative services at 1,991 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 156,000 patients.

The company also operated 41 outpatient dialysis centers located in nine countries outside the United States.

DaVita supports numerous programs dedicated to creating positive, sustainable change in communities around the world.

In Malaysia:

On July 22, 2013, it announced the acquisition of the dialysis operations of Malaysia’s Caring Dialysis Centre Group (CDC Group) by DVA (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.
   
“This is an important move for DaVita in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Dennis Kogod, Chief Operating Officer of DaVita HealthCare PartnersTM. “Scaling up operations in Malaysia allows us to bring outstanding quality of care to this region.”
   
With the addition of CDC Group’s 18 centers, DaVita now operates a total of 21 centers in Malaysia with plans to expand in the coming years.
   
“We’re excited to build on the reputation of CDC Group and to welcome the teammates and patients from their 18 centers to DaVita,” said Atul Mathur, president of DaVita’s Asia-Pacific operations.

“Malaysia is a key market for our growth strategy in the Asia-Pacific region where we are now serving patients in five countries.”
   
“We always have been dedicated to delivering quality care to our patients, and we constantly seek opportunities to improve the care they receive,” said Dr. Ong Kee Liang, founding nephrologist of CDC Group.

As of today, the number of dialysis centres is about 24.

/DaVita 18-08-2014

   
 Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

Malaysia: Q2,2014 Economic Growth beats Forecast



Malaysia’s services sector is continuing to expand and the hope is that it will contribute even more to the economy.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the Government was generally supportive of entrepreneurs who wanted to start businesses, particularly in the services sector, by providing various loan schemes.

He said this in response to the latest growth figures released by Bank Negara last Friday, which showed the services sector had contributed a strong, sustained 6% to the country’s Q2 gross domestic product (GDP) figure of 6.4%.

Ahmad said Malaysia’s GDP growth for the quarter had beaten most countries in the Asean region, including Singapore at 2.1%, while surpassing that of South Korea (3.6%), the United States (2.4%), the United Kingdom (3.1%) and Russia (1.2%).



“Only China at 7.5% beats Malaysia’s GDP growth,” he said. 

Malaysia’s 6.4% Q2 economic growth also beat forecasts of analysts and was a 0.2% improvement over the first quarter.

The construction sector was the main contributor to the GDP at 9.9%, followed by manufacturing (7.3%), agriculture (7.1%), private consumption (6.5%) and petroleum and mining (2.1%).

Ahmad said the strong growth was the result of good management of the economy in the midst of the uncertainty in the global environment, as well as Malaysia’s political stability.

“The growth was not just focused on the management of the country’s expenditure but also the macro and micro economy, imports and exports, fiscal and monetary policies, alongside domestic and foreign investments,” he added.

/Bernama 18-08-2014


Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

TMC Hospital: to increase hospital beds



NICHE hospital operator TMC Life Sciences Bhd is increasing the number of beds at its sole Kota Damansara hospital by 60 to 200 by the end of its financial year 2016 ending May 31 (FY16).

It is also exploring an expansion in the future as it only occupies a third of the 6 acres available at its present hospital site.

In terms of hostpital beds, TMC rates as one of the smallest of private hostpial groups, behind parties like the Ramsay Sime Darby (with total number of beds at 913 in Malaysia), Sunway Medical Centre (368 beds) and IHH Healthcare Bhd (about 2,000 beds in Malaysia).

TMC, is also presently the smallest capitalised public listed hospital operator in the country and has a market cap of RM389.2mil, behind other public listed peers as KPJ Healthcare Bhd with RM3.56bil and IHH RM38.35bil.

TMC, which spent RM3.3mil on capital expenditure (capex) last year, is looking to spend more this year and next as it seeks to replace old machinery and renovate one of its floors.

“Our capex for FY15 will be funded internally and will go up (from FY14) although we don’t have the details yet. We have been operating for five and a half years. Some medical equipment have to replaced after six to eight years of use,” TMC’s executive director and group CEO Dr Wong Chiang Yin tells StarBizWeek in an interview.

“The cycle (to renew) is coming, so we do have to replace some equipment but not all. Prices of some equipment also go down over time, which is good for us,” he says, citing the example of computerised tomography (CT) scanners.

TMC, which generates 80% of its revenue from its hospital at Kota Damansara, plans to completely convert the hospital administration floor at Level 7 into wards housing some 60 beds.

This renovation is expected to be the biggest capex component for FY15, the company says.

“We have balance proceeds from the rights issuance of about RM3.69mil and the renovation of Level 7 will cost about RM8mil,” its chief financial officer Yap Eng Gee says.

“Now we have two floors of beds with about 120 beds. And the floor size at Level 7 is about the same as each of these two floors,” Wong says. In total, TMC has 139 beds today.

Most of the balance revenue comes from TMC’s fertility clinics which it ventured into 20 years ago and today have five centres located in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor.

Wong says it is easier to grow its fertility business as it does not need such a huge capex commitment than a hospital. “It is not too expensive to replicate, and there is more emphasis on medical tourism for overseas patients. This is good for medical tourism as the patient can travel and this is one of the most important point,” he says.

TMC is also focusing on organic growth at the moment does not have any plans for the acquisition of another hospital.

“Not all the land here is being used up yet and there is much (untapped) potential here. We have no firm plans for other hospital sites but we also do not exclude any possibility either,” Wong adds.

On a related matter, Wong also says that he had no knowledge of the possibility of its major 32.6% shareholder Singapore billionaire Peter Lim of injecting his planned 200-bed hospital at Iskandar Malaysia’s medical hub into TMC.

However, any possible acquisition by TMC would need to also consider the startup costs and breakeven times at the due diligence stage although recouping them would be quite easy, several analysts surveyed said.

Meanwhile, TMC is fairly confident that it would grow its bottomline to match the market’s expectation after starting off from a low base just two years ago. “We feel we are maturing, but there is still growth left. Many people forget that we were in the red just three years ago. Even after our rights issuance in 2011, we were still losing money in FY12. Only in FY13 we made a modest operating profit of about RM2.1mil,” Wong says.

“In the industry, hospitals that are in the black generally do not go back into the red. We can make more money, or less money but we generally do not go back into the red,” he adds.

TMC reported a profit from continuing operations of RM6.45mil for its financial year 2014 ended May 31 (FY14), a steep rise from RM2mil previously. Despite the rise in financial performance, TMC’s Wong has however also noted that it had to deal with rising costs as well.

“Whether healthcare is goods and services tax exempt or not, most of these costs would have to be passed on to the consumer. Other costs that have gone up include manpower costs. Recently, the Government raised the salaries of nurses in the public sector and for us we cannot be paying less than the Government,” Wong says.

“But I am still optimistic that the sector would do well this year on the general growing affluence among people in the Klang Valley and that we are located in the right part of town for the middle-class folks,” he adds.

TMC expects its bottomline earnings to be sustained moving forward but notes that growth would not be as momentous as before.

/theSTAR 02-08-2014
 

Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

Dengue cases dropped slightly



The number of dengue cases has dropped to 2,989 cases for the week July 13 to 19 compared to 3,142 cases the week earlier.

However, the number of deaths rose from two cases to seven for the same period.

With the latest reported cases, the total number has soared to 54,976 cases from January to July 27, three-and-a-half times more than the number during the same period last year – 15,400 cases.

The Health Ministry’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre, which updated the figures, revealed that there were 101 deaths compared with 31 the same period last year.

Selangor still has the highest number of cases for this year as of July with 29,972 cases, compared with 6,842 cases last year.

It is followed by Kelantan with 5,156 cases compared with 772 last year.

The other states with high dengue numbers are Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya with 4,504 cases, Perak with 3,307 cases and Johor with 3,127 cases.

/theSTAR 02-08-2014
 
 
Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

Ebola warning, Demands for Gloves Increase



Shares in glove-making firms on Bursa Malaysia soared against a weaker market as Sierra Leone declared an emergency on the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa.

At the close yesterday, Supermax was up 19 sen to RM2.36 after a two-month slump, Top Glove rose 14 sen to RM4.77, Kossan climbed eight sen to RM4.09, while Hartalega gained four sen to RM6.65.

Dealers said the stocks were played up amid concerns over an Ebola pandemic, which would create demand for their products.

In West Africa, the lethal virus has killed 729 people since February, compelling the World Health Organisation (WHO) to discuss with affected nations in Guinea a US$100mil response plan yesterday.

On Thursday, the WHO reported 57 new deaths this week in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

One of the world’s deadliest viruses, the Ebola infection causes fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.

Top Glove’s share price movement had been lacklustre since posting lower-than-anticipated second-quarter results for the financial period ended Feb 28, 2014 on lower sales volume and margin compression from increased competition in latex and nitrile segments.Its improved earnings of RM42.4mil for the third quarter ended May 31, 2014, compared with the preceding year’s RM40.3mil, failed to catalyse better share price performance.

Kossan’s share price saw a sharp spike from RM3.76 in early July to RM4.21 on July 11, following an announcement of its acceptance of a hire-purchase facility of RM18.72mil from OCBC to finance the purchase of new rubber gloves production lines in mid-June. The facility would fund the business operations of its wholly-owned subsidiary Perusahaan Getah Asas Sdn Bhd.

/theSTAR 02-08-2014


Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment

Aged Healthcare Act for the Elderly to be tabled in October, 2014



A new law to ensure that senior citizens will be cared for with integrity and dignity is expected be tabled in Parliament when it meets in October 7 to Nov 27, 2014
.
Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Aged Healthcare Act, currently being drafted, would regulate private institutions and community care providers for those aged above 60. “The Act is to ensure there will be a minimum quality of care for aged persons in an accessible, affordable and sustainable manner. Details of the proposed standards are still under discussion,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said the other aims of the Act were to ensure the well-being of the aged, encourage aging with independence and regulating unregistered nursing homes.

The Health Ministry, he said, was studying healthcare models from countries such as Australia, Japan, South Africa and Singapore in drafting the law.

“With the Act, healthcare service providers for persons aged 60 years and above will be governed under this Act,” he said. “Those already registered under the Care Centres Act will continue to be governed under the Act, until the expiry date of their operating licence. “After which they have to be registered and governed under the new Aged Healthcare Act,” Dr Noor Hisham added.

However, he said institutions licensed under the Private Health Care Facility Act could continue to operate, as the standards set by this law was sufficiently high.
 
“The country’s population is moving towards an aged nation by 2030, where it is estimated that 15% of our population will be aged 60 years and above. Currently, this age group comprises 8.4% of our population,” he said.

“From discussions with stakeholders, it is anticipated that the demand for care services for elderly by the year 2030 is expected to increase. There has also been a mushrooming of many institutions and healthcare service providers which have yet to be regulated in terms of the quality and cost of their services,” he said.

/theSTAR 02-08-2014
 
 
Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

Post a Comment