Under the 12th Malaysia Plan, a National Health Endowment Fund, derived particularly from waqf (donation of assets from Muslims), will be introduced to diversify health care financing.
Countries like the US and UK that spend a large portion of their GDP on health have not done well to manage the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of total cases and deaths per 1 million population, compared to less developed countries.
The country’s health expenditure, comprising both public and private spending, has been steadily increasing from 4.2 per cent of GDP in 2016 to 4.7 per cent of GDP in 2020, says the finance minister.
In addition to expanding the public health care budget, innovative funding mechanisms such a co-payment between public and private players should be considered.