The Malaysian Medical Association’s (MMA) wish list for Budget 2026 is as follows:
Health Care Financing
Budget 2026 should commit to raising public health care spending from 2.4 per cent to 5 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
To fund this, the MMA proposes removing the sugar subsidy and expanding the sugar tax on sugary drinks, with revenues ringfenced for Ministry of Health (MOH) use. This not only discourages unhealthy consumption but also channels resources directly into strengthening health care.
The public health care registration fee should also be increased from RM1 to RM5 at public primary care clinics and RM5 to RM25 at public specialist outpatient clinics, with all proceeds directed to facility maintenance and upkeep, while continuing the exemption for B40 patients, to ensure care is accessible to all.
Health care must be seen as an investment in Malaysia’s future, not merely an expenditure.
Workforce And Retention
The most urgent priority for Budget 2026 is addressing the severe shortages and retention issues in our public health care workforce. Without a strong workforce, even the best policies cannot be delivered effectively.
We welcome the government’s commitment to abolish the contract doctor system and urge that all remaining contract doctors be absorbed into permanent positions. Greater support should be given to postgraduate training through both the masters and parallel pathways to encourage specialisation.
Doctors’ on-call allowances remain outdated at RM9.16 per hour. We urge an increase to RM25 per hour, a meaningful adjustment that reflects workload, responsibilities, and sacrifices. Meanwhile, specialists continue to leave at alarming rates. Budget 2026 must urgently address these gaps and inequities.
The MMA has proposed the establishment of a national dashboard to map health care workers and services nationwide, ensuring transparency and equitable distribution of resources. This dashboard should set clear benchmarks by incorporating health care norms, such as the recommended ratios of health care workers, hospital beds, equipment, and facilities to patient numbers across departments.
While remuneration, career progression, and workload remain the key drivers of brain drain, a national dashboard will directly address workload by enabling better planning and allocation. We therefore urge its swift implementation without further delay.
Digital Health And Technology
Digitalisation must be made a cornerstone of health care reform. Without stable internet access, basic hardware, and reliable phone coverage, Electronic Medical Records (EMR) will fail. It is unacceptable that some hospitals still have “dead zones” without phone connectivity.
We urge standardisation of patient ID stickers nationwide to reduce errors, prevent medicolegal risks, and save costs in the long run. The MySejahtera app should be enhanced to provide more personalised care while also serving as a platform to map participating private GP clinics in public private collaborations.
Budget 2026 should also provide more grants to clinics, pharmacies, and dental practices to support digitisation in line with the 13th Malaysia Plan. These investments will strengthen continuity of care and bring health care delivery into the digital age.
Public Health And Disease Prevention
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, with an economic cost of RM64.2 billion (4.2% of GDP) in 2021, largely due to productivity loss. Strengthening prevention must therefore be a top priority.
General Practitioners (GPs) are the closest health care partners to families and essential to long-term NCD treatment adherence. They can help absorb the outpatient burden from government clinics and emergency departments. Budget 2026 should fund preventive screenings in private clinics and eliminate the referral fee gap between GPs and government health clinics to improve access.
The government should also fully outsource the national immunisation programme, civil service pre-employment and employee promotion health screenings, as well as public university pre-entry health checks, to private GPs through a structured public–private partnership. This will ease the burden on the public health care system, while all medical records securely maintained through the MySejahtera platform.
We call for an expansion of positions for counsellors, clinical psychologists, and physiotherapists – especially for mental health and elderly care. Claims for public health specialists should also be simplified and given parity with clinical specialists.
To reduce NCD risk, the government must enforce clear food labelling, mandate healthier food in school canteens, and require calorie information at all food outlets. Tax relief should also be extended for Malaysians adopting healthier lifestyles, including purchases of sports equipment, gym memberships, and participation in recreational sports.
The MMA also hopes the government will increase the budget for the Madani Medical Scheme to RM150 million to ensure its continued success and wider reach.
Elderly Care
According to the Journal of Health Policy and Outcomes Research, elderly care costs in Malaysia are projected to reach RM21 billion (1.08% of GDP) by 2040. Budget 2026 must start preparing for this demographic shift.
We urge greater investment in home care services to keep seniors healthy within their communities, reducing unnecessary hospital admissions. We need more geriatricians, palliative care specialists, and allied health professionals, while hospitals and clinics upgraded with age-friendly facilities.
Targeted allocations should also ease out-of-pocket spending for seniors through subsidies, medical devices, affordable micro-insurance, and community caregiver support.
The government should support upskilling initiatives by funding training programmes for private GPs with a special interest in geriatric care, ensuring better preparedness to meet the needs of an ageing population.
Access To Care And Public-Private Collaboration
Manpower shortages are causing oncology clinics to run late into the night, ICU nurse to patient ratios to fall below accepted standards, and outpatient wait times stretch unacceptably long. These gaps cannot continue.
Budget 2026 should incentivise private hospitals to lend diagnostic machines after office hours through a tax relief programme, maximising existing resources.
Formalising GP–Health Clinic–Hospital clusters, with specific budget allocations, will strengthen continuity of care. Integration can be supported via the MOH–MCMC Digital Fund. Governance frameworks must also be modernised, starting with a review of the outdated PHFSA Act.
Evidence has shown that public–private collaboration works: during Covid-19, GP–MOH cooperation enabled one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. This success must be replicated in national health programmes.
Conclusion
With stronger collaboration, better funding, and fairer distribution of resources, Malaysia can reduce NCD complications, save billions in productivity losses, and protect its ageing population.
The MMA emphasises that health is not merely an expenditure but an investment. We are fully prepared to engage with the Ministry of Health and all stakeholders to strengthen and improve the nation’s health care system.
This statement was issued by MMA president Dr R. Arasu.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
