KUALA LUMPUR: Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa has reminded state governments to ensure Health Ministry (MoH) allocations (MOH) under Budget 2023 are used optimally in meeting the needs of the people.

"Under Budget 2023, the Health Ministry received the second largest increase in allocations in line with the government's wish to ensure the continuity of public health services.

"I would like to stress here that the allocations set by the Unity Government are done after a detailed study of the needs and interests of the people in each state in line with the concept of Malaysia Madani," she said in a statement today.

Yesterday Dr Zaliha chaired her first meeting with state government health committee chairmen at the MoH headquarters.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when tabling Budget 2023 on Feb 24 said MoH received the second largest allocation with an increase of 12 per cent to RM36.3 billion compared to RM32.4 billion last year.

Dr Zaliha said yesterday's meeting also discussed important issues on the Health White Paper, MoH expenditure and development projects and the Agenda Nasional Malaysia Sihat (ANMS) plan.

As such, she urged state health committee chairmen to play an active role in ensuring the tabling of the Health White Paper can be realised.

"I also hope that this meeting will be used as a platform as a catalyst to improve the delivery of health services to create a healthy and prosperous Malaysia Madani society," she said.

She said the meeting also proved the government's commitment to improving the quality of health service delivery in each state, as well as being a platform to present specific information for discussions and decision-making.

-- BERNAMA