UNDERFUNDED, understaffed, underpaid and underappreciated. These are the four words that director-general of health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah chose to describe the hundreds of thousands of men and women who manage the nation’s public sector healthcare.
“You are our unsung heroes of the nation,” he says in his New Year message on Facebook. I can’t agree more.
Of all the 1.7 million civil servants that we have, these men and women under the Health Ministry are the ones that work the hardest, the longest hours in a day well beyond their call of duty but we hardly hear them bragging about it.
It’s all in a day’s work with little public appreciation except by members of the public who have sought their service either at outpatient clinics or when they are warded at the hospitals.
This column is nine years old and I have consistently written on our stellar and second to none public healthcare.
My mission on this is to plead to the rakyat not to take the virtually free service, often the fee charged is a mere RM1, too much for granted without being conscious of what we all can do to curb the mind-blowing costs of public healthcare.
Just a month ago, this column appealed to Malaysians to help curb the “exploding” healthcare costs by being more health-conscious and leading a healthy lifestyle.
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that by and large, Malaysians are an unhealthy lot and the congestion and long queues at hospitals and clinics are testimony to this “Malaysia Boleh” phenomenon.
A regular reader of this column, Dr Prashant Subramanian, who is also an occupational health doctor at a government hospital, texted me the following advice on good health to share with readers.
Most of us know these health tips but it’s always good to keep reminding ourselves to have “a good sleep, positive attitude, balanced nutrition and constant exercise”.
If we need to start nationwide sustained campaigns to jolt citizens to take charge of their personal health more religiously than ever before, we have to do it and there perhaps is no better time to kick off such an effort than this year with its beautiful 2020 combination of figures.
We cannot afford to take a business as usual approach on health matters otherwise the Health Ministry will always be understaffed.
And recently, the government approved nearly 11,000 new permanent posts for the ministry to fill up vacancies for doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and medical assistants.
This will mean some extra billion more in the ministry’s wage bill which according to Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad could rise to as high as RM80 billion annually at the rate Malaysians are falling sick.
If left unchecked, the cost could well become unsustainable especially in times of an economic slowdown.
I don’t want to claim any credit for being perhaps the first journalist to call public sector healthcare staff at all levels as “unsung heroes” many years ago.
And the ever humble Health DG Dr Noor Hisham has taken a leaf from me to tell all his staff that they are truly the nation’s unsung heroes.
Hospitals are one of the public utilities that operate round the clock without a break compared with many others which operate five days a week with weekends off for staff.
Even the clock breaks down but not hospitals.
One needs to visit a hospital ward like I regularly do when visiting friends and relatives to see the overcrowding and the overworked staff to appreciate all their sacrifices.
It’s actually much more than a sacrifice. Over five years ago, I broke my left wrist falling on a slippery floor and was warded for a few days after an operation at Selayang Hospital.
It was an eye-opener for me on the sheer quantity, quality, integrity and even sanctity of their selfless service to the nation and the rakyat.
That’s why many hospitals are in desperate need of maintenance and repairs. Unfortunately, mishaps at times happen and lives are lost.
To cite an example, a fire at Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru on Oct 25, 2016 claimed the lives of six patients at its Intensive Care Unit.
It was a rare tragedy that cost that many lives in one incident but the lessons are compelling indeed.
“Overall, the Ministry of Health has achieved what it set out to do in 2019, to ensure a resilient health system and keep the services running despite the challenges of being underfunded, understaffed, underpaid and underappreciated.
“Indeed, we are overworked and our facilities overcrowded with patients. I would like to thank all the MOH strong men and women for their dedication and commitment in fulfilling their duties.
“Come 2020, we will continue to connect, collaborate, converge, consolidate and conserve.
“It’s my expression from the heart but words are inadequate to describe the blood, sweat and tears of my doctors and medical staff in providing care to our patients,” said Hisham.
Well said, Sir.
At the end of the day, the onus is on us the rakyat to keep under control the cost of healthcare by always keeping in mind that “Prevention is better than cure”.
Simply put, eat our food as a medicine and not medicine as our food.
Happy New Year to all readers.
Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
