KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — Khairy Jamaluddin has condemned proposed health spending cuts, saying that not a single sen can be cut without affecting core services in public health care.
The former health minister told BFM News in a video clip posted on X today that the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) previous raises in budget allocations were used to increase capacity that is now considered core services.
“So when you cut RM3 [billion], then obviously it’s going to affect core service. There’s nothing in the present health care system that is a luxury, that’s an add-on, that you can take away,” said Khairy.
“Every single sen is core, is a necessity. So I don’t like the framing that has been made by the Health Ministry – all necessary core service stays the same. We’re already under-invested, so what are you talking about?
“Every single sen taken away will affect the ministry. So while I, as a former minister, I understand the constraints that Treasury is facing, I’d rather you take that money away from something else – not health, not education. Look at some of the other ministries which are not dealing with life and death.”
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad announced last April 30 that he expected a 10 per cent cut to the MOH’s RM46.5 billion 2026 budget, or RM4.65 billion, higher than the previously reported RM3 billion cut proposed by the Treasury in a government-wide austerity drive to pay for soaring fuel subsidies.
He pledged to protect “essential core services” and that the MOH would submit a counter-proposal.
However, the health minister has yet to announce the negotiated figure, ahead of a May 15 deadline for all ministries to submit their proposals for spending cuts to the National Budget Office.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also finance minister, said last May 4 that health spending cuts would only target the “luxurious” scope of hospital projects.
Dzulkefly told reporters yesterday that the Maran Hospital project in Pahang, first approved a decade ago under the 11th Malaysia Plan, has been axed because there is still capacity in Jengka Hospital and Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Hospital (Hoshas) in Temerloh.
