IPOH: There is a possibility of an increase in the cost of medical careby between 1% and 2% when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented in April next year, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

The Government, he said, was thus looking into ways to reduce that cost.

He said the health service was now being exempt from GST but there were certain technical issues that had been identified and highlighted to the Customs Department, which needed to be addressed.

“For example, the services per se are GST-exempt, but the products used in the services are not.

“That is why we are asking that those products also be exempted from GST. Otherwise, the burden may be passed on to consumers in other forms.”

“This is something which the medical groups are taking up, as well with those in charge of GST to make sure there will be minimal medical cost to the consumers,” he said after the ministry’s training institution graduation ceremony held at Kolej Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu Sultan Azlan Shah in Ulu Kinta yesterday.

IPOH: There is a possibility of an increase in the cost of medical careby between 1% and 2% when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented in April next year, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

The Government, he said, was thus looking into ways to reduce that cost.

He said the health service was now being exempt from GST but there were certain technical issues that had been identified and highlighted to the Customs Department, which needed to be addressed.

“For example, the services per se are GST-exempt, but the products used in the services are not.

“That is why we are asking that those products also be exempted from GST. Otherwise, the burden may be passed on to consumers in other forms.”

“This is something which the medical groups are taking up, as well with those in charge of GST to make sure there will be minimal medical cost to the consumers,” he said after the ministry’s training institution graduation ceremony held at Kolej Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu Sultan Azlan Shah in Ulu Kinta yesterday.


On the unhappiness voiced by the public that only 4,200 brands of essential medicine would be exempt from GST, Dr Subramaniam said initially, the department had said that medication would not be exempt.

However, the ministry put in additional efforts to insist that medication should be exempt from GST, he said.

“Finally, a compromise was reached so that 320 chemical compounds consisting of 4,200 brands are under zero rate,” he said.

“Of course, we would like for all medications to be exempt from GST. Many medical-related associations are fighting for that, too. So we hope the Customs Department will make a decision because the ministry is not the deciding factor here.”

On a call by the Asia-Pacific Dengue Vaccine and Vaccination Steering Committee chairman Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Lam Sai Kit that the ministry should go ahead with the actual field tests for a proposed vaccine for dengue, Dr Subramaniam said the technical committee was studying the data before deciding on the matter.

He said they were studying the clinical trials done on the vaccine not only within the region but in Latin America.

“There are still many unanswered questions to the benefits of the vaccine. And until and unless all the answers are convincing, it is still premature to say if we will use the vaccine as a preventive measure,” he said.

Source: The Star