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.