I REFER to the report “Travel council soon to boost health tourism”(The Star, June 10).

Fomca has been very wary of the various developments of healthcare tourism of late. We have noted the obvious industrial push for its expansion and the Government’s pursuit for its development as a revenue generation source. We, on the other hand, express concerns over its growth and also over the Government’s policy direction in the healthcare sector.

The commodification of public healthcare is gradually becoming evident, ranging from medicine procurement to hospital support services, and health tourism is seen as one of the main drivers.

When healthcare is commercialised, packaged and promoted in the form of tourism packages, it is essentially creating and promoting a demand-driven system that strays away from needs-based priorities, diverting from the fundamental principles of health rights and equity.

It could substantially erode the once equitable healthcare system that we have. The growth of health tourism could also worsen the exodus of senior doctors, when the more lucrative private market expands.

Instead of focusing on expanding the private healthcare sector through health tourism, the Health Ministry should strive to optimise its resources to improve the public healthcare as its main priority.

As the cost of healthcare continues to escalate, coupled with the crippling impact of the global financial turmoil, the people’s dependence on public healthcare will be undoubtedly greater as many are falling back to the public healthcare sector for their medical needs.

During challenging times like this, the Government should be ever more vigilant to fulfil its basic obligations and responsibilities to the rakyat in providing healthcare to not just the poor, but also struggling middle-income earners and those uninsured.

The indications are emerging that Malaysia’s once equitable healthcare system may disappear. We are witnessing the privatisation of various areas of the public healthcare system, a recent one being the establishment of private wings.

Privatisation will deny a majority of the population access to health care. As a developing nation, we should be heading towards better wealth distribution by providing equitable healthcare for the people, not regressing into a neo-liberal healthcare structure that is based on the ability to pay rather than the basis of need.

DATUK MARIMUTHU NADASON,
President,
Federation of Malaysian
Consumers Associations (Fomca).