Many Malaysians, and especially civ

Many Malaysians, and especially civil servants, have become accustomed to the benefits of low-cost treatment in government clinics and hospitals, and are unlikely to regard attempts to reduce or remove their right to such treatment with favour.

Such moves are also likely to be seen as increasing inequity within the wider Malaysian society. Health care policy could be an especially sensitive political issue for the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the dominant party in Malaysia’s ruling coalition.

UMNO has historically relied upon the votes of rural Malays for its electoral dominance and has always sought to project an image as the guardian of the interests of the Malay community. Any attempt to reduce health care entitlements, especially in rural areas, could be exploited by Parti Islam, UMNO’s traditional political opponent and by other opposition groups. On the other hand, it is possible that by charging urban, salaried, Malaysians more for health care in public hospitals there will be more financial resources with which to offer better care in rural hospitals and clinics. Certainly this is part of the government’s thinking in re-orientating the funding of public health care in Malaysia