Majority Of Malaysians Fully Dependent On Public Healthcare System

Credit: Bernama/Malay Mail

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A majority of Malaysians are fully dependent on the national public healthcare system

The 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS 2019) revealed that more than 70% of Malaysians seek out and make use of government healthcare services instead of private medical facilities.

According to the survey over 40% of Malaysians – especially the B40 income group – have no other financial backup to pay for healthcare services.

The report also shows that only some 20% of Malaysians have any sort of personal healthcare insurance while the rest are forced to spend their current income, dip into their savings or loan money from their friends and relatives to cover their medical bills.

Moreover, the study states that Malaysians have been spending more and more on healthcare over the years, increasing from over 3% of their total monthly expenses in 2011 to more than 5% in 2019.

All this is especially concerning considering that the survey outlined that one out of every five Malaysians suffers from some sort of disease or illness and that more than 30% of Malaysians have relatively low healthcare literacy or knowledge on how to manage their medical issues and live healthy lifestyles.

Meanwhile, the survey also confirmed the rise of mental health issues among the public with more than half a million people suffering from depression and more than 400,000 children impacted by some form of mental health “trigger”.