In its report published last month, the World Bank Group highlighted that one of the drivers of cost pressures in Malaysia’s medical and health insurance/takaful (MHIT) sector is higher utilisation of healthcare services, rather than sharp increases in treatment prices.
Simply put, we are not just paying more because healthcare is expensive, but because, in addition to the ‘buffet syndrome’, more people are getting sick.
This comes as no surprise for me as a practising doctor. As statistics show, many Malaysians are living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with conditions like cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
When you look at the numbers, they’re quite sobering. Results from the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) show half a million Malaysian adults suffer from four NCDs simultaneously. On a national level, NCDs cost the Malaysian economy RM64.2 billion in 2021, which is about 4.2% of our GDP and take a toll on the nation through reduced productivity and premature deaths, amounting to RM51.8 billion in indirect costs.
Upon zooming in further, the picture becomes even more worrying because it affects you, me, and almost every Malaysian we encounter each day. One in five Malaysian adults lives with diabetes, many without even knowing it, and more than half of our adult population is overweight or obese.
Sadly, many Malaysians only seek care for NCDs when the condition has already progressed. For example, the Malaysia National Cancer Registry Report 2017-2021 reported that 65.1% of cancer cases are diagnosed at Stage 3 or 4, meaning, nearly two-thirds of cases are only detected at a late stage, when treatment becomes more complex, costly, and less effective.
Even more worrying is a trend many doctors, including myself, are now observing firsthand: patients are getting younger. NCDs that were once associated with older age are increasingly being diagnosed earlier in life. What is more alarming is that this phenomenon is happening in tandem with Malaysia moving towards becoming an aged nation by 2048. This combination of earlier onset and longer disease duration will inevitably drive up healthcare utilisation, and with it, the overall cost of care.
All these numbers taken together inevitably point to a higher spend. But the good news is that these NCDs are in many cases preventable and manageable.
In my practice, and I am certain many of my colleagues would share this view, some of our greatest healthcare challenges are not in emergency departments or operating theatres, but in the everyday settings where health is truly shaped: at home, at work, and in the small, repeated decisions Malaysians make throughout the day.
I’m not talking about addressing NCDs through drastic lifestyle changes such as running a marathon or losing 20 kilograms in a few months. If that is what someone chooses to do, that is perfectly valid. But for most people, the reality lies in simply understanding and taking action on how our daily habits accumulate over time: what we eat, how we move, how we rest, and recognising the impact these have on long-term health.
It also means improving health literacy: helping Malaysians understand basics such as why monitoring their blood glucose levels is important, how different foods affect their bodies, and why regular screening matters even when one feels well. Simple, practical habits, like a short walk after meals, can make a meaningful difference when done consistently.
As far as cost goes, I assure you that preventive screening and early detection make a huge difference in a patient’s outcome and spending where NCDs are concerned.
Preventive healthcare is already a core focus across private hospitals, which offer easily accessible screening with a wide range of packages designed to detect conditions early before they progress to become more serious.
The government too has already taken steps to strengthen preventive healthcare, including nationwide initiatives such as the “War Against Sugar” and “War Against Salt” campaigns. More recently, the “Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases in Malaysia: The Case for Investment” report, launched in late 2024, provides a clear, evidence-based roadmap for addressing the country’s growing NCD burden. Its projections are compelling: over a 15-year horizon, effective implementation could save more than 180,000 lives and recover approximately RM30 billion in economic output.
I hope national efforts, through public-private partnership, can be further expanded to empower Malaysians to take greater ownership of their own health, particularly through easier and affordable access to early screening, the development of stronger primary care pathways for managing early-stage NCDs, and better access to healthcare providers who can guide patients through health literacy and decision-making.
Small steps taken by millions of Malaysians, repeated daily over years, are, I believe, the key to changing our health outcomes in the years to come. When we take preventive healthcare seriously through screening, earlier detection of illnesses, talking to primary healthcare providers, and keeping up healthy lifestyle changes, we are doing far more than just improving individual outcomes. We are fundamentally changing the scale of the problem, and significantly reducing the price we collectively pay for healthcare, both literally and figuratively.
If we can successfully embed these changes through preventive healthcare, I am genuinely optimistic about what we can achieve: millions of lives improved, billions in healthcare costs potentially avoided, and a system that is not only more financially sustainable, but also more focused on keeping people well, rather than treating them late.
Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh is president of the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM).