Healthcare Costs Rising 10pc Yearly- Hilmi.

BAYAN LEPAS: Healthcare costs have risen 10 per cent from last year's record of RM20 billion, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said. He said the cost of healthcare had been on the rise, going up by 10 per cent each year.
 "We hit the record last year with RM20 billion in costs, which included cost of administration, medication and also development. "It is, of course, a matter of grave concern, as we can expect healthcare to become more expensive every year," he said after launching Universiti Sains Malaysia's (USM) tobacco-free project at its campus here yesterday.
 He said a contributing factor for the rise was the rise in lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular conditions, cancer and diabetes. "When there are more patients to treat, we will need more medications, beds and amenities in the hospital." Commenting on the New Sunday Times front-page report last Sunday which highlighted that many could not afford private healthcare, he said there was now a greater need to improve the government healthcare system to provide for the public.
 He said as a competent government, measures were being taken to improve and provide state-of-the art medical care for the public. "This is one of the reasons why we will be requesting for more allocations for the Health Ministry in the 2014 Budget. With the increased allocation, we will also be able to focus on the development of new hospitals and clinics."
 He also commended USM's tobacco-free project, which he said was one of the ways non-governmental organisations could help the government in health-related programmes.