PETALING JAYA: Now that he is a vice-president of the World Health Assembly (WHA), it is health minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s responsibility to uphold Malaysia’s reputation as a country with one of the best healthcare systems in the world.
In issuing this reminder, Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Koh Kar Chai said he was happy that Malaysia would be represented and directly involved in the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Khairy has been appointed as one of the five vice-presidents of the WHA.
“It is indeed an honour for Malaysia to be recognised and given a role in the development of global health policies,” Koh said in a statement today.
“The main functions of the WHA are to determine the policies of the WHO, appoint the director-general, supervise financial policies and review and approve the proposed programme budget.”
He said that with the appointment, Khairy now had an obligation to uphold Malaysia’s reputation.
“There is no doubt that our healthcare system is still among the best in the world,” he said.
“However, many would agree that our healthcare system is aging and that there is room for improvement as clearly evidenced during the two-and-a-half years of the pandemic.”
Koh said that with the health ministry’s planned white paper to be tabled in Parliament soon, Khairy now had the opportunity to carry out the reforms needed to cement Malaysia’s position as a top-class healthcare provider.
Khairy had previously said a white paper on healthcare reforms would be tabled in November.
On Oct 27, 2021, Malaysia was picked as a vice-president of the 75th WHA, currently taking place in Geneva from May 22 to 28.
Khairy, who is representing the country, previously said the voice of the Western Pacific would be brought to the world assembly.
He expressed his gratitude for the unanimous nomination during the regional committee meeting for the Western Pacific region.