By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Dec 11: Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen has offered to help the newly appointed Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa and her deputy Lukanisman Awang Sauni to deliberate on necessary healthcare reforms.
He congratulated the duo on their respective appointments which are important roles to address long-term issues of under-funding and neglect for healthcare system not just in urban areas but also in rural areas in Sarawak dan Sabah and certain states in Peninsular Malaysia.
“They have important roles to play and myself as an MP, I will also play my role to push healthcare agenda and healthcare reforms through Parliament.
“Fact of the matter is I have made contact with both Lukanisman and Dr Zaliha and I have also offered my experience and my help for the benefit of the country and to address fundamental issues of healthcare in Malaysia,” he told reporters when met at Sarawak DAP headquarters here today.
He also disclosed that during his conversation with Dr Zaliha sometime last week, he had shared his views on certain matters which he hoped the new health minister could concentrate on especially within her first 100 days in office as well as continuing the previous efforts led by her predecessor Khairy Jamaluddin.
“These include the Health White Paper which consolidates all the different reforms recommended over the years by experts in the field, healthcare workers and specialists on the ground.
“Of course, Dr Zaliha is taking her time to understand the issues and I think it’s important to give her the room to understand all these critical issues in-depth before making a commitment. I’d rather her understand and make commitments rather than making commitments without understanding the issues,” he added.
Dr Yii who was the former chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Health, Science and Innovation also said he had no idea whether the committee will be revived as it has been dissolved following the dissolution of the previous Parliament.
“On Dec 19, we are going to elect a new Speaker (of Dewan Rakyat) and after that the Speaker will make a decision on what are the select committees that he wants (to set up or revive) and then we will know,” he revealed. – DayakDaily
