Charges for outpatient treatment and RM5 for Specialist Outpatient treatment will remain unchanged said the Ministry of Health (MOH) secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Chen Chaw Min.

He said treatment charges at hospital and health clinic patients are as according to what has been set in the Fees (Medical) Order 1982.

"The charges for patients who chose to get full-paying patient services are based on the Fees (Medical) (Full Paying Patient) Order 2007. Meanwhile, services provided through mobile clinics via land, sea or air are free," he said when commenting on the misunderstanding by members of the public regarding treatment charges at hospitals and MOH clinics that went viral on social media.

Dr Chen said the underprivileged, patients with contagious diseases, senior citizens, students, mothers undergoing antenatal care and postnatal treatment as well as children under the age of one are exempted from payment.

Meanwhile, in another development, up till Sept 30, government hospitals had a total of 4,474 medical specialists, but may still need to increase the number, said Health Director Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

"Although there has been an increase in the number of specialists, there is a need to increase the nation's health services due to factors such as an increase in the population, health complexities, health facilities and services which especially require high expertise and need to meet the people's expectation," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said the government was greatly concerned over this matter and was constantly trying to maintain the stature of its medical specialists through various initiatives.

-- BERNAMA