Many still unware of health scheme

Kota Kinabalu: The government has been urged to organise roadshow to disseminate information on the National Health Protection Scheme (mySalam) especially in rural areas in Sabah to ensure that the B40 group can benefit from the initiative.

Bernama check around the city found that many were still unaware of the existence of the scheme, launched by the government on Jan 24 in collaboration with the Great Eastern Holdings, and it was highly possible that the target group in the rural areas were unaware of the initiative and its benefits.

Helen Morris, 59, an activist, said the scheme’s goal was clearly to help the underprivileged to seek insurance aid for the treatment of illnesses, however, the benefits of the initiative were seen as not well-known among the general public including its application method.

Hence, Hellen, who is also president of Sipitang Sabah Cancer Volunteers and Community Society, proposed for the government to collaborate with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Sabah to organise roadshow to disseminate information on mySalam aggressively especially in rural areas.

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“This is to ensure that the information of this initiative can be disseminated to target groups in rural areas in Sabah because they are in need of the assistance, even though the B40s in the rural areas have jobs, their income barely enough to cover costs and treatment,” she told Bernama.

For Paris Langut, 69, a pensioner, she found out about the scheme through news reporting, and recommended the information to be widely disseminated for the benefit of the B40s as the target group.

“The scheme is good and its benefits need to be disseminated to all districts, including every hospital in the countryside, so that all will be aware that there are government-provided healthcare facilities for them,” she said.

Sakinatul Nabila Bitis, 34, a trader, said a mySalam counter should be set up at each hospital to provide information on the scheme so that more people would know about the initiative and its benefits.

“I do not know much about mySalam personally... I just read about it from news reports. “However, I suggest there should be a collaboration with the village committee so that the information can be disseminated to individuals in the area,” she said.

Meanwhile, Fariz Abdul Rani, 37, who heard about mySalam scheme for the first time said that social media site such as Facebook would be among the best platforms to disseminate information on mySalam scheme to the public.

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MySalam scheme launched on Jan 24, 2019 offers free health protection namely, a one-off payment of RM8,000 and daily hospital allowance of RM50 per day or a maximum of RM700 per year, to B40 households diagnosed with one of 36 critical illnesses.

The scheme is the result of a partnership between the federal government and Great Eastern Holdings which contributed a seed fund of RM2 billion. – Bernama

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