If the government accepts Sime Darby Berhad’s proposal to acquire a considerable stake in the National Heart Institute (IJN), poor folk and those with screwed up insurance policies are going to have a tougher time affording top class cardiac surgery and care – something that IJN has been offering since its corporatisation from the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital in 1992. Widely regarded as among the best heart centres in the region, IJN is a beacon of hope among the medical fraternity and industry. It conducted the nation’s first open heart surgery, heart transplant and artery bypass graft.
Of course, over time many doctors, surgeons and even nurses were poached by the private sector. However, IJN still managed to command the confidence of many patients – among them our present prime minister and his predecessor, as well as royalty – which further underscored its position as the nation’s premier cardiovascular disease treatment centre. So, with the announcement of the government yesterday that it has no issue with Sime Darby’s interest in IJN, what does this mean to the poor and government servants who are subsidised at the hospital?
Can the rakyat accuse the government of bartering the well-being of the ordinary Ali, Ah Chong and Muthu for the pecuniary interests of a corporation? Till now, there has been no logical explanation as to why Minister of Finance Incorporated would want to part with its 99.9% stake in IJN. The government hopes to rest our fears by saying that Sime Darby is a GLC buying into IJN – thus, it will not compromise the welfare of the rakyat who pay taxes for affordable treatment at top notch government facilities.
The deputy prime minister who is also finance minister goes on to say that the government has only agreed in principle to Sime Darby’s overtures, where the takeover must include a social welfare programme. But how would this be implemented? There are limits to corporate social responsibility when such initiatives start eating into one’s profits – even for a GLC!
There is nothing to stop Sime Darby from performing 100 free surgeries for underprivileged folk annually to fulfil its quota for charity. But what of the rest? As a referral centre alone, IJN handles close to 50,000 cases a year. Ironically, many of these referrals are from private hospitals. Of the 150,000 patients treated at IJN annually, 100,000 are government servants and their families.
So with privatisation, will referrals from government hospitals dip? Will those who cannot afford the new fee scale at IJN be instead referred to other health institutions which do not have the facility, expertise and patient-care culture that defines IJN? As a preview of coming attractions, one can refer to the cost of cardiovascular treatment at the Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya (SDMCSJ).
Single bypass surgery at SDMCSJ is between RM40,000 and RM50,000, while at IJN, the same procedure costs only between RM25,000 and RM30,000. An angioplasty costs between RM35,000 and RM45,000 at SDMCSJ, while at IJN, patients pay from RM18,000 to RM35,000. Perhaps as a compromise, IJN’s new wing which will be opened next year could be hived off to Sime Darby – pretty much in the same way University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) now has a thriving private wing.
Whatever the case, the people are worried when big corporations muscle in on public healthcare systems. Their motivation is always profit and welfare and social responsibility is always going to be a blemish to the bottom line. The government has the responsibility to not only allay these fears but also give a comprehensive explanation as to why the privatisation of IJN is in the public interest.
The SunTerence feels it is about time that a National Health Plan is implemented to protect the wellbeing of all Malaysians. He is deputy editor special reports & investigations and is contactable at
terence@thesundaily.com 
