KUALA LUMPUR, 29 April 2026 — The Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy strongly objects to the proposed RM3.06 billion reduction to the Ministry of Health’s budget as reported in the media today. Such a major cut would directly undermine Malaysia’s public healthcare system and place patients, healthcare workers, and essential services at serious risk.

“A RM3.06 billion cut to the Health Ministry’s budget is not an accounting adjustment. It is a decision that will be felt in hospital wards, operating theatres, emergency departments, clinics, pharmacies, laboratories, and by patients waiting for treatment. The cost of this cut will be paid in delayed procedures, longer waiting lists, medicine shortages, deteriorating facilities, exhausted healthcare workers, avoidable complications, and preventable deaths,” said Azrul Mohd Khalib, Chief Executive Officer of the Galen Centre.

“Malaysia’s public healthcare system is already operating under severe pressure, with rising patient loads, increasing non-communicable diseases, ageing infrastructure, staff shortages, and growing demand for complex and long-term care.”

“This proposed cut comes at the worst possible time. Our hospitals and clinics are not asking for luxury. They are asking for the minimum resources needed to keep services running safely and effectively. Cutting billions from health will weaken the very system that millions of Malaysians depend on. It will affect low-income households, older persons, people with chronic diseases, children, and those living outside major urban centres. More than 70 percent of Malaysians depend on the public healthcare system for their medical needs.”

“What does a RM3.06 billion cut gain? It doesn’t even cover the RM4 billion that is being spent each month for RON95 and diesel subsidies. But when health budgets are cut, especially in large amounts, the effects are not theoretical. A patient may wait longer for cancer treatment. A child may not receive timely care. A dialysis centre may struggle with supplies. Rare diseases will get further marginalised. A hospital may delay replacing critical equipment. A nurse or doctor may leave the public service because the system has become impossible to work in. These are the real consequences of such cuts,” emphasised Azrul.

The proposed reduction will have immediate and long-term consequences, including postponed surgeries and diagnostic procedures, worsening waiting times, loss of trained healthcare workers, interrupted maintenance of facilities and equipment, shortages of life-saving medicines and medical devices, and reduced ability to provide quality, effective, and safe care.

“If this is the cost of continuing to subsidise cheap petrol, then it is not worth it. What appears to be savings today will become higher costs and is far more expensive tomorrow. It does not make fiscal sense. Cutting health spending does not make disease disappear. It shifts the burden onto patients, families, employers, hospitals, and future budgets. It risks erasing any gains made in improving healthcare in Malaysia. It increases morbidity and mortality, and it weakens national resilience,” he pointed out.

“We urge policymakers to reverse this proposal. The public healthcare system is one of the country’s most important social protections. The Ministry of Health should not be treated as a convenient place to find savings. Health is a core public investment. It protects lives, productivity, economic stability, and social trust. A country cannot build resilience by weakening its public healthcare system.”