KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): The Ministry of Health has applied for RM4.67 billion worth of funding for new projects under the Rolling Plan 2 of the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 (12MP), said Deputy Minister of Health Datuk Noor Azmi Ghazali.

Application for the funding was submitted to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in March 2021, and is pending the unit’s approval, Noor Azmi told the Dewan Rakyat.

“The government will continue its initiatives to ensure Malaysia secures universal access to quality healthcare, by improving the basic infrastructure of the national healthcare system, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak,” Noor Azmi said.

Under Rolling Plan 1 of the 12MP, MoH received the approval for RM4.36 billion worth of development expenditure. This covers 394 projects, comprising 332 physical projects and 62 non-physical projects, the deputy minister said.

Touching on the subject of East Malaysia, Noor Azmi said Rolling Plan 1 underlines RM422.49 million for Sabah and RM820.77 million for Sarawak — with more allocation expected upon approval for the Rolling Plan 2 allocation.

In 11MP 2016-2020, RM677.41 million was allocated for Sabah and RM632.95 million for Sarawak, so as to improve the healthcare infrastructure in both states, including the development of hospitals in rural areas.