KUCHING: Special Advisor to the Health Minister, Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen, has welcomed the government’s decision to continue the Skim Perubatan Madani (SPM) initiative in the 2024 budget.
In a statement, Dr Yii, who also serves as Kuching MP, encouraged all eligible recipients to make full use of this initiative, which provides free treatment for low-income families (B40) from private general practitioner (GP) clinics.
The initiative, under the Ministry of Health (MOH), originally implemented in 11 districts throughout Malaysia, including Kuching.
The SPM initiative has now expanded to various regions across the country, including several areas in Sarawak.
“While there is a good response to the initiative, there is still more room for more households to benefit from it.
“For Kuching alone, this initiative is said to be benefitting 53,287 households, where for each Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) recipient, the government allocates RM250 for each household, RM125 for senior citizens (without their partner), and RM75 for singles.
“That is why, as I welcome the extension of such good initiatives to help reduce congestion in main hospitals that will benefit the public, I would encourage more of those eligible to make full use of this benefit for themselves and eligible family members.”
As of Oct 29, 2023, a total of 213,913 households are enrolled in the programme, resulting in 355,467 visits to 2,173 registered GP clinics nationwide.
In Sarawak, the initiative has benefited 14,425 households, with 23,431 visits made to 83 registered GP clinics in areas like Kuching, Bau, Betong, Bintulu, Miri, Mukah, Samarahan, Sararok, Serian, Sibu, and Sri Aman.
Kuching, as of the same date, alone recorded 20,837 visits from 12,558 enrolled households and 45 registered GP clinics.
“STR recipients can obtain as many free treatments as they need until their household’s allocation is used up.
“This will benefit all STR recipients, and they will be automatically registered into this initiative; all they need to do is bring their IC to a registered GP clinic.”
