Health matters: Dr Lee taking a closer look at the elephant sculptures after launching the ‘Speak Up – Because I Matter’ expo at Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur. Looking on are Chew and sculptor Yusof Gajah.The government is looking to expand its home care based palliative care services as part of its efforts to bring medical care right to the doorstep of patients, says Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye.
This came about after the government recognised palliative care medicine as a medical subspecialty in 2008. Dr Lee said the government was expanding its palliative care services as it was cheaper to keep patients at home rather than in the hospital for a patient’s end of life care.Hospis Malaysia chairman Datin Kathleen Chew said at the launch there was a need to recognise that those at the end of life also matter just as much as those in their prime of life.