Malaysia Health Sector: Budget 2014

The government will provide free Peritoneal Dialysis machine, called the Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD), costing RM19,000 per unit, to patients with end state kidney failure to enable them to do the treatment at their own home.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said the government realised the difficulty of patients with kidney failure in having to go to the haemodialysis centre for treatment three time a week and spent up to RM400 for each treatment.

The government would continue to provide quality health care and medical services for the people and was allocating RM22.1 billion for the health sector, he said when tabling the 2014 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said the allocation would be channelled for various programmes and projects, including the construction of Tanjung Karang Hospital and additional blocks for Jeli Hospital, as well as upgrading of the Kuala Lipis Hospital and 30 rural clinics. The government, he said, had set up 234 1Malaysia clinics and another 50 to be set up next year.

In addition, the government would allocate RM66 million for the purchase of equipment and the construction of additional blocks at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, he added.

"To improve the quality of nursing care and reduce the nurses' workload of working continuously in two shifts, the government will appoint 6,800 more nurses with an allocation of RM150 million," he added.

He said an allocation of RM3.3 billion would also be made for the purchase of medicine and medical equipment to ensure patients receive appropriate treatment, including expanding the cardiothoracic services in the Ipoh, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan and Kuching hospitals.

To address the shortage of parking lots at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, he said, a total of 1,950 new parking lots would be completed next year.

He said hospitals in Rompin and Tampin, as well as the National Cancer Institute, would be operational next year.