Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzukefly Ahmad has repeatedly emphasised his vision of value-for-money treatment and commitment to reforms which ensure better transparency, efficiency, and cost effectiveness in health.
Competition provides for the possibility of better and improved treatment options, lower drug prices, increased affordability and coverage.
The Pakatan Harapan Manifesto made a pledge to increase allocations and incentives to encourage the private companies and welfare bodies in the treatment of rare diseases, especially among the needy and families with children with special needs.
Only 1 in 10 Malaysians who carry the Hepatitis C virus has been diagnosed and know their status.
What needs to urgently improve is the availability, affordability and accessibility of new and improved treatments for diseases such as cancer and rare diseases.
The financial realities of living with cancer.
There is cause for concern as an insufficient allocation could result in shortages of essential drugs.
What does success look like?
Going with a government use licence could represent a pyrrhic approach to a long-term problem with possible consequences and complications.
This is a game changer in the fight against Hepatitis C in Malaysia.