1. Malaysia Country Profile
2015 Indicators
Population (millions)
30.5
Population density (persons/sq km)
92.2
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births)
6.2
Life expectancy, females (years)
77.4
Life expectancy, males (years)
72.4
GDP per capita (USD)
9,766
Chiu-Wan Ng
University of Malaya, Malaysia

2. Malaysia Challenges Rapid urbanisation Ageing society
From 27% of population in 1970 to 74% in 2015
Geographical variations
Higher in more developed states
Ageing society
Proportion of persons aged 65+ years
5.0% in 2010, 8.0% in 2025 and 11.4% in 2040
Differs across ethnic groups
Malays 6.8%, Orang Asli 6.3%, Chinese 13.7%, Indians 9.6% (2025 projections)
Double burden of disease
In 2011, prevalence of hypertension 32.7% and diabetes %
In 2015, incidence of dengue fever 390 per 100,000 population
Access to affordable effective health care
In 2013, total health expenditures 4.53% of GDP; about half from public purse
Public system challenged by limited resources and increasing demand
Increasing demand for private care leading to expansion of private sector
Malaysia Challenges
Chiu-Wan Ng
University of Malaya, Malaysia

3. Malaysia Research Needs
Changing national ideologies from welfare to pro-market
Tax financed provision of health care making way to privately funded care
Impact on access to care and health status needs to be continuously monitored across different sub-populations
Provision of primary care in urban areas
Explore non-traditional methods to deliver affordable care
Provision of effective care
Development of metrics to track effective treatment coverage of medical conditions
Initially for individual diseases and expand to provide assessment of national performance
Provision of care to migrants
Sensitive political issue, access to needed care restricted, advocacy needed
Changing lifestyles and behaviours
Rapid economic development impact different social groups differently
Life expectancy gains of Indian males compared to rest of ethnic groups
Explore contributing factors including rural-urban migration
Public acceptance of dengue prevention activities
Vaccine seen as a quick fix, explore methods to increase compliance to source reduction methods
Malaysia Research Needs
Chiu-Wan Ng
University of Malaya, Malaysia