The Malaysian Ministry of Health is now launching a new initiative by holding discussions on reducing subsidies for sugar producers, aiming to control sugar consumption among the people.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni, announced his willingness to hold a round table session with the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance in the Dewan Rakyat to discuss this move on Sunday yesterday.
This proposal came after the Member of Parliament for Muar, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, insisted that the sugar subsidy is not in line with efforts to reduce sugar consumption in society.
According to Lukanisman, the report "Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases in Malaysia: The Case for Investment 2021" shows that the government will spend RM3.3 billion in 2021 to treat patients with metabolic diseases, representing 7.3% of the government's total health expenditure RM45.3 billion.
He also noted that the economic burden from metabolic diseases is estimated to reach RM27.7 billion, with diabetes alone accounting for RM24.3 billion, due to productivity losses due to disease complications.
This discussion has the potential to lead to stricter measures against sugar subsidies, hopefully reducing the number of diabetes patients that are increasing further, reducing the health expenditure that burdens the government every year.
