KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat passed the Health White Paper (HWP) with a majority voice vote today.
The voice vote was called by Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Alice Lau after Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa finished her winding-up speech on the HWP.
Lau then announced the HWP had been passed through a clear majority voice in the august house.
Earlier, 29 MPs took part in the debate.
The paper outlines the challenges faced by the health system and proposes solutions to ensure a higher-quality, sustainable and resilient health system.
The development of the paper received advice and technical input from the Health White Paper Advisory Council and consulting experts from the World Health Organisation.
The national health reform will be implemented in phases over 15 years.
The paper addresses issues such as the increase in life expectancy at birth which will lead to an ageing nation, the increase of non-communicable and chronic diseases, the emergence of new and old infectious diseases, the impact of mental health in Malaysia, climate change and biodiversity decline, and fee imbalance in hospitals and clinics nationwide.