Healthcare services in 'dire need of help'

BRUNEI'S healthcare services are in "dire need of help," said Health Minister Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman yesterday.

Faced with today's challenges of increasing healthcare costs and greater demand for better quality healthcare, the minister has approved the establishment of the Brunei Medical Association (BMA) as a body to tackle these hurdles in the healthcare industry.

He said that doctors can play a role in reducing the costs of healthcare by taking measures such as early prevention, detection and early treatment made available to the patients.

"Doctors' habit of prescribing medicines together with treatment decision will ultimately influence the treatment costs," he said during the launching of the Medical Association at Rizqun International Hotel.

The minister highlighted that as the population becomes better educated, its awareness about health will also increase. Therefore, the demand for better healthcare services will follow suit.

In such a situation, the doctors will have to strike a balance between new responsibilities and sacrifices they're are willing to make in order to satisfy the needs of the population.

"These are all questions the doctors can answer if there is a representative body of doctors to take up such questions and come out with the answers," he said.

Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi said that these questions would remain unanswered as long as doctors were not in agreement with defining the quality standard of healthcare.

"The difference in what doctors perceive as standard quality can be significant and may result in patients receiving sub-standard care," he said.

"These and many other issues concerning the medical profession were behind the establishment of the BMA," said the minister.

Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi said that improving the quality of healthcare to the community and being concerned with the ethics and standards of professionalism among its members should be one of the association's main tenets.

Apart from tending to these issues, the minister said that the function of the association should also be to represent the interests and welfare of its members. In this light, the BMA will be able to assist the Ministry of Health in understanding the issues, priorities and challenges that come with the job, he said.

In terms of health workforce, Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi said that some 334 doctors were employed under the government with a further 59 from the private sector. This is equivalent to one doctor per every 992 persons, according to the minister.

"This is a healthy ratio, equal to some developed countries," he said.

He added that there are currently 194 local doctors, including 29 specialists.

The minister said that plans are under way to build a Women and Children wing at the Ripas hospital to add another 279 beds.

With the establishment of the dialysis centre in Temburong, there are also plans to build dialysis centres in the other three districts. .

The Brunei Times

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