IMU’s IRDI Successfully Organised Second Public Talk “Managing Healthcare Costs of the Future”

International Medical University’s Institute for Research, Development, and Innovation (IRDI) successfully organised a public talk on Managing Healthcare Costs of the Future under the Future of Medicine Series on 15 August 2015 at IMU Bukit Jalil campus. The objective of this public talk was to raise awareness amongst the general public on the rising healthcare costs and explore the different strategies to manage this issue. 

In this talk, three eminent speakers had deliberated on issues related to healthcare costs, namely Dato’ Ted Mohr who is the Director of IMU Healthcare, Dr Milton Lum who is a medical doctor by profession, and Mr John Chang who is a pharmacist. The topics covered in this public talk included the trends affecting healthcare delivery, causes of increasing healthcare costs, and solutions for controlling the costs of healthcare.

The speakers highlighted that the cost of healthcare in Malaysia has been increasing in recent years with the rise averaging about 15% annually, doubling about every six years. The general public feels the strain of medical fees each time they seek medical treatment as medical bill constitutes a significant part of household expenditure, according to income. This problem is compounded by the rising cases of non-communicable diseases which are costly to treat. Also, the booming of ageing population who is living longer also requires more healthcare. The speakers had also emphasised on healthy living and preventive measures such as exercising to avoid falling sick.

Overall, the talk was well received by the audience, which consisted of the general public, students, researchers, healthcare professionals, insurance agents, and entrepreneurs.

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