Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email I always come across emails and newspaper articles asking for donation for medical purposes and wondered why there’s always request for funds. Looking at the amount of money spend by the Malaysian Medical Welfare Fund last year, looks like expenses for treatment for diseases is very high and many Malaysians can’t afford it. There’s many kinds of diseases that require complicated surgical procedures or use of implants/prosthesis. There’s an increase of RM7 million from 2008, so can expect this trend to continue as cost of living increases. How are the rakyat going to face this? Even insurance policy may not be enough to cover expenses that can go up to Rm100k to Rm200k
KUANTAN: A sum of RM32mil was disbursed from the Malaysian Medical Welfare Fund (MMWF) to help cover medical costs and related expenses of poor patients who sought treatment in public hospitals nationwide last year.
Its chairman Hasnah Sulaiman said Monday that the amount was higher than the amount dispensed in 2008, which was RM25mil.
“Medical costs are increasing and the main bulk goes to providing financial aids of implants and prosthesis.
“These are very expensive items and poor patients cannot afford to fork out the money,” she said after witnessing a RM150,000 mock cheque presentation from Pahang State Islamic and Malay Culture Council (MUIP) to Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital (HTAA)’s welfare fund here Monday.
… Hasnah added that the welfare fund was important because it had helped poor patients to get the right medical treatment and attention.
However, the fund was available only to those who sought treatment in public hospitals, she said, adding, the hospital’s medical social work department would handle the cases.
“A case will be referred to the medical social officer by the medical specialist.
“It will take two weeks to process an application but immediate funding will be given if the situation is critical for a patient,” Hasnah added..
…Contributions can be made to MMWF and it can be in cash or kind. For more details, contact MMWF headquarters at 03-26155965, 03-26156464 or e-mail at tkpm2452@yahoo.com or tkpm2452@gmail.com.
