KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) finalised the direct procurement of MySejahtera and made payment to the private company operating the mobile application in line with a “special approval letter” from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) last September.
In a written parliamentary reply yesterday to Taiping MP Wong Kah Woh, who was formerly chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa did not disclose the amount that the government paid for the MySejahtera app; Wong had asked if the government has made any payment for the development and use of the app so far.
“In line with the government’s decision on the ownership of the MySejahtera application, MOH finalised the procurement process for the management of the MySejahtera application via direct negotiation and payment was made to the company in line with a special approval letter from the Ministry of Finance dated September 15, 2022,” Dr Zaliha said in her parliamentary reply, without naming the company that received payment from the government and without specifying how much or what exactly the payment was for.
Dr Zaliha also said the MOH had referred to the Attorney-General’s Chambers to verify the legitimacy of the parties involved in the contract and clarify the ownership and IP rights of the app’s source code, following recommendations made by the 14th Parliament’s PAC in October last year.
The PAC report previously revealed that former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri’s Cabinet had, in November 2021, authorised an allocation of RM196 million to be paid for MySejahtera services rendered over two years. RM196 million payment for an app is bigger than MOH’s radiotherapy and oncology budget for 2022.
The sum, according to the PAC report, is to be paid to MySJ Sdn Bhd – the private company operating the MySejahtera health app – in two annual payments of RM98 million from April 1, 2021, until March 31, 2023.
Dr Zaliha’s written parliamentary reply to Wong yesterday did not specify if any contract was signed to extend MySJ’s operation of the MySejahtera app beyond March 31 this year.
To ensure the government’s interests are secured, Dr Zaliha said the MOH has implemented measures, including ensuring that all modules in the MySejahtera app are the property of the government.
This also includes ensuring that the app’s data, its intellectual property (IP) rights, source codes for the modules developed, along with the ‘MySejahtera’ brand and logo are federal property.
Dr Zaliha said the government also has full rights to the use of the MySejahtera platform via a “perpetual licence”, at no cost, even if the contract is not extended or if the government decides to appoint another party to manage the MySejatera app.
“The government can also proceed with the development of additional new modules by using this licence for any public health digitalisation needs without any restriction,” she said.
In line with the PAC’s recommendations, the MOH has also obtained a MyIPO copyright for the MySejatera app on August 2, 2022, which Dr Zaliha claimed guarantees that all personal data that has been registered with the MySejahtera app is fully owned by the government and is safe and secure under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342).
The health minister said MOH has expanded the use of MySejahtera as a public health management tool, in line with the ministry’s health service digitalisation plan, with additional functions, such as surveillance of infectious diseases like TB, dengue, measles, rabies, and hand, foot and mouth disease; vaccination records under the National Immunisation Programme; screening records for non-communicable disease for individuals aged 40 years and above under the National Health Screening Initiative; registration of organ donation pledges; blood donation records; and appointment bookings for health screenings and quit-smoking clinic services.
