Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE HILTON HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 28/07/88
Tajuk/Title : THE OPENING OF THE 3RD
INTERNATIONAL COMBINED SCIENTIFIC
MEETING ORGANISED BY THE COLLEGES
OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS,
PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF MALAYSIA
Yang Berbahagia Dato' Dr. S. Selvarajah,
Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Pengelola;
Dif-dif Kehormat;
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan sekalian.
Saya mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Jawatankuasa
Penganjur Mesyuarat Antarabangsa Saintifik Bersama Yang
Ketiga ini kerana menjemput saya untuk merasmikan Mesyuarat
ini. Saya berharap Mesyuarat ini bukan sahaja akan memberi
manfaat kepada tuan-tuan dan puan-puan dalam bidang
perubatan, tetapi juga akhirnya akan memberi sumbangan
kepada kesejahteraan penduduk negara ini.
2. Negara kita masih mengalami kekurangan pakar-pakar
perubatan. Kerajaan akan terus memberi perhatian supaya
bilangan pakar di dalam berbagai bidang perubatan di negara
ini meningkat dari masa ke masa. Latihan perubatan di
peringkat ijazah lanjutan, atau post-graduate, di
institusi-institusi tempatan telah dipergiat dan
diperluaskan supaya kita dapat menambah bilangan pakar
perubatan di negara ini. Di samping itu Kerajaan menghargai
apa-apa usaha oleh pertubuhan-pertubuhan perubatan, seperti
ketiga-tiga Kolej ini dan institusi-institusi swasta, bagi
meningkatkan pengetahuan dan kemahiran para doktor kita.
3. Kerajaan menyedari pentingnya para doktor dan
kakitangan perubatan lain mengikuti
perkembangan-perkembangan terbaru dalam berbagai bidang
perubatan. Perkembangan dan kemajuan dalam semua bidang
perubatan ini sangatlah dinamik. Kalaulah tidak setiap
hari, setiap minggu seharusnya kita dapat mendengar penemuan
dan penyelidikan baru. Dengan itu semua doktor dan
kakitangan perubatan hendaklah sentiasa berusaha
meningkatkan ilmu pengetahuan masing-masing, bukan sahaja
supaya tidak ketinggalan bahkan supaya dapat meningkatkan
mutu perkhidmatan perubatan di negara ini.
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan,
4. Penceramah-penceramah jemputan ramai terdiri daripada
pakar-pakar luar negeri yang akan mencurahkan
sedikit-sebanyak pengetahuan dan kemahiran mereka di
perjumpaan yang bermakna ini. Dengan itu, seterusnya saya
ingin berucap dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
5. I would like to express my appreciation to the
Organising Committee for inviting me to officiate the
opening of this 3rd International Combined Scientific
Meeting of the Colleges of General Practitioners, Physicians
and Surgeons of Malaysia. I take this opportunity to
welcome our guests from overseas and I hope you will find
your stay in Malaysia both enjoyable and fruitful. I am
glad to be associated with both the second and present third
Meeting of the Malaysian medical profession.
6. It is a long time since I was involved in the practice
of medicine. And now because of the nature of my job, I am
permitted only a passing interest in the progress of
medicine. Nevertheless, today both my wife and I feel we
are amongst colleagues and friends including many very old
ones.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
7. Malaysia is fortunate to have a comprehensive network
of hospitals, polyclinics and health centres through which
healthcare can be extended to all levels of our society,
free in most cases and at a subsidised rate for others.
Efforts in the past three decades have resulted in a more
equitable distribution of facilities and services and
general improvement of the health status of the people as
reflected by positive changes in health indicators. The
pattern of diseases in Malaysia has been changing to reflect
the degree of affluence which now approaches those of
developed countries. As infectious diseases are controlled,
heart diseases, malignancy and accidents are assuming
greater importance as causes of ill-health and mortality.
Similarly conditions related to an increasingly aging
population, urbanisation and issues related to personal
behaviour can be expected to pose increasing problems in the
future. To meet these and new emerging needs as well as the
residue of traditional problems, our approach must
necessarily be innovative, multi-disciplined and multi
sectoral.
8. There have been rapid advances made in the field of
medicine. Over the last 20 years great strides have been
made in medical technology. Advances in biomedical
engineering have resulted in the development of highly
sophisticated equipments. These developments have
increased our diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities to
deal with a wide spectrum of diseases and invariably these
advances have caught the imagination of the medical
profession as well as the public.
9. This has resulted in increasing the expectations and
demands from the public for the introduction of new
capabilities. Cost of medical care in general, in most
countries including Malaysia, has escalated over the years.
This has been brought about to a large extent by the high
cost of high-tech medical equipments used in diagnosis and
treatment and the increasingly sophisticated management of
patients.
10. This trend of rising costs in medical care is of
concern to all of us and especially to the Government of
Malaysia which maintains a non-contributory comprehensive
medical service. There is a need for a degree of
centralisation of the means of diagnosing in particular so
that expensive equipments can be more fully utilised and
thus decreasing the financial burden on the patient. As
doctors have no time for management, medical facilities
should have professional managers skillful in increasing
productivity i.e. in reducing costs.
11. Malaysia inherited a colonial health service designed
originally to provide free healthcare for expatriate
officers. When medicine costs 10 cents a bottle, the
extension of this free service to all Government employees
and then to the general public was not considered much of a
burden on the Government. But today when one capsule may
cost $3.00 and an operation thousands of dollars, the burden
has become quite unbearable. Without denying the needy
access to good healthcare, it is necessary that some
contributory health insurance scheme should be instituted
for those who can afford it. As the Employees Provident
Fund has shown, vast sums of money can be accumulated by an
insurance scheme to maintain facilities and provide
healthcare for vast numbers of contributors. Such funds can
easily keep up with the sophistication and costs of modern
medicine. Indeed, such funds can contribute towards the
total national savings, a factor of great importance in
economic development and the creation of a better quality of
life for all. Doctors, especially the newer ones, are keen
to have the very latest equipments regardless of the cost.
A non-contributory medical service even by the richest
Governments cannot meet the demands of these doctors
indefinitely. We are aware that they are only thinking of
their patients but Governments have other priorities as
well. The time has come for the nation to think seriously
of a general health insurance scheme to supplement and
eventually partially replace the Government Medical
Services.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
12. The government has always placed great emphasis in
continuing medical education. Government hospitals have
been encouraged to organise educational programs for their
staff. Doctors have been sponsored to attend conferences,
seminars and specialised courses conducted both locally and
abroad. This is to enable them to improve their knowledge
and skills which they can utilise more effectively in
carrying out their clinical responsibilities.
13. In their profession, doctors have an obligation to
continue their education which is life long, and all doctors
must take personal responsibility to ensure their own
continuing medical education. In these days of
specialisation continuing medical education poses a
challenge to doctors, and medical gatherings such as this
Combined Meeting can contribute towards this. Professional
medical societies should work closer together with the
Ministry of Health, hospitals and the Universities, with the
common objective of promoting continuing medical education
for the benefit of patients and the public.
Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan sekalian,
14. Adalah diharapkan Mesyuarat Ketiga-tiga Kolej Perubatan
ini akan berjaya meningkatkan ilmu pengetahuan dan kemahiran
para doktor di negara ini. Rakyat negara ini turut berasa
bangga dengan berita-berita mengenai kejayaan-kejayaan oleh
pakar-pakar perubatan kita dalam mengendalikan pembedahan
yang dahulu dilakukan hanya di luar negeri. Kita juga turut
berbangga dengan beberapa kejayaan dalam penyelidikan
perubatan yang dijalankan oleh pakar-pakar tempatan. Saya
yakin kita akan menempa banyak lagi kejayaan masa depan
berkat usaha-usaha yang berterusan dari semua pihak.
15. Akhir sekali, saya mengucapkan terima kasih sekali lagi
kepada Jawatankuasa Penganjur Mesyuarat Antarabangsa ini
kerana menjemput saya berucap di Upacaraya ini. Dengan ini
saya dengan sukacitanya membuka Mesyuarat Antarabangsa
Saintifik Bersama Yang Ketiga ini dengan rasminya.
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