Find Health and Medical expertise in Malaysia

Malaysia boasts one of the world’s most sophisticated health care sectors. The public health care programme is accessible to everyone as it is subsidised by the government and is used by the majority of the Malaysian population. In general, Malaysian doctors are required to complete three years of service in public hospitals before being allowed to move into the private sphere, ensuring that there is adequate public cover for the general population.

As of 2010 households contributed approximately 42% of spending on health, with the remaining 58% contributed by the government. Notably, Malaysia is a popular destination for medical tourism. The domestic pharmaceutical industry consists of manufacturers engaged in the process of drug production, including research, development and licensing. The Malaysian Organisation of Pharmaceutical Industries is the key sector body and the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau regulates the sector through the Drug Control Authority.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for an estimated 73% of all mortality in Malaysia in 2012. The most prevalent NCDs in Malaysia are cardiovascular diseases, which accounted for 36% of total deaths across all age groups in 2012. Cancers, non-communicable variants of respiratory diseases and diabetes contributed 15%, 6% and 3% to total mortality, respectively (2012). Communicable diseases along with maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions in Malaysia accounted for an estimated 16% of all mortality in 2012. The prevalence of HIV in Malaysia, as a percentage of people aged 15–49 years, was 0.4% in 2012, the highest figure recorded for the country since 1990. There has been an overall reduction in the number of deaths caused by malaria in the country since 2000, while levels of confirmed cases remained roughly the same. There has been a slight overall increase in estimated incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the period 1990–2012, while estimated mortality (when mortality data excludes cases comorbid with HIV) of the disease remained largely the same in 2007–13.

Government expenditure

In 2013 government expenditure on health was 2.2% of GDP. In the most recent survey, conducted between 1997 and 2010, there were 120 doctors, and 328 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people. Additionally, in 2010, 99% of births were attended by qualified health staff and in 2013, 95% of one-year-olds were immunised with a dose of measles. In 2014 98% were using an improved drinking water source and 96% of people had access to adequate sanitation facilities. The most recent survey, conducted in the period 2000–11, reports that Malaysia has 43 pharmaceutical personnel per 100,000 people.

Almost half of all health care in Malaysia (45%) was paid for by patients or funded by other non-governmental entities – such as private insurers, charities or employers – in 2012. Total health expenditure constituted 3.9% of GDP in 2012, of which 55% was covered by the government.

Malaysia is not a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the covenant that commits signees to ensuring ‘the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health’.