Illegals outnumber but can't turn them away: Hilmi
Published on: Thursday, November 14, 2013
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Kota Kinabalu: Illegal immigrants constitute 30 per cent of outpatients receiving treatment in government-run health clinics and hospitals in urban or town areas.
But in districts such as Semporna, the number of illegal immigrants seeking treatment at these government medical premises far exceeds the number of local outpatients.
Deputy Health Minister, Datuk Dr Hilmi Yahya, said that in districts like Semporna, 70 per cent of the outpatients were illegal immigrants.
And because of the medical code of ethics, the government cannot turn them down from seeking treatment from the clinics or hospitals.
"Whether we like or not, this is our code of ethics in healthÉthey come in emergency such as giving birth, what can we do (we have to accept)," he told reporters after officiating at 6th Sabah Public Health Colloquium 2013 and 1st Regional Public Health Conference at Pacific Sutera, Wednesday.
But treating these illegal immigrants come with a cost because they have no identification documents.
Hence, it is difficult to trace them after they are discharged from the hospitals.
In May this year, the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) was told that the government spent RM21.7 million for the past six years in healthcare on foreigners in Sabah, who did not pay for their treatments.
Hilmi said it is equally worrying that foreigners who came here and went for check-ups with Fomema, an agency that conducts check-ups on foreigners, were found having sicknesses or illnesses such as tuberculosis, HIV and other communicable diseases.
He said the fact is that many of them could have opted to stay in Malaysia and thus become illegal immigrants and carrying diseases in them.
"We hope that other relevant authorities will cooperate with us to ensure that these sick immigrants are sent back (to their country of origin)," he said.
He said the government is concerned with the health of genuine Malaysians but at the same time, it also is bound by the code of ethics in providing healthcare to every living human being irrespective of their nationality.
Meanwhile, State Health Director, Dr Christina Rundi, said the colloquium and regional public health conference is to enable medical practitioners to share knowledge with one another.
She said it all started eight years ago with the state-initiated colloquium but due to demand, it has now upgraded to conference of regional level.
According to her, there were 360 participants in the colloquium and conference.
"When we started the colloquium, it was a platform for paramedics to present their papers so that they would be encouraged to conduct researches," she said.
But other countries have expressed interest to take part in the event, she said.
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