KUALA TERENGGANU, Dec 20 -- The government today assured the people that it will not sell or privatise the National Heart Institute (IJN) so long as there is no alternative which provide similar service to the people, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said.
He said that while the idea to privatise the IJN was good because the government would no longer be burdened by the high costs of subsidising treatments at the institute, now was not the best time to do so.
"It is a good idea but what about those in the low-income group? Can they be assured of obtaining similar service?
"These are the things that the government needs to consider," he told reporters after a dialogue with Terengganu Health Department staff here.
He also said that the people should not be worried as until an alternative service was available, the government would not entertain any proposal to privatise or sell the IJN.
He said that to make heart treatment facilities more accessible to the people, the government planned to set up a heart treatment centre in each state under the Tenth Malaysia Plan (2011-2015).
"At the moment, four heart treatment centres, with their own specialists and surgeons, have started operations in Selangor, Penang, Johor and Sarawak," he said.
Conglomerate Sime Darby Berhad was reported to have made a proposal to acquire 51 per cent stake in the IJN, a move which received objections from the people.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Run Razak announced yesterday that the deal had been postponed until an indepth review had been undertaken.
IJN is managed by IJN Holdings Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance Inc.~ Bernama
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