We are doing well

How is the health care status of Malaysia since 2000 compared to other developing and developed countries?



Source: Unicef

As we can see, the perinatal mortality rate of Malaysia in 2000 is 5 per 1000 live birth, and it's not very different from developed countries, eg France, Germany, USA and Australia (3 to 5 per 1000 live birth). It is an outstanding achievement if we compared this figure with China (21 per 1000 live birth), India (43 per 1000 live birth), and Vietnam (15 per 1000 live birth).

Similarly, the under 1 year-old infant mortality rate of Malaysia in 2006 (10 per 1000 live birth) is far lower compared to China (20 per 1000 live birth), India (57 per 1000 live birth) and Vietnam (15 per 1000 live birth). However, it is slightly higher if compared to developed countries which have a rate of between 4 to 6 per 1000 live birth.

As a health care professional, I certainly agree that there are still a lot of health care aspects in Malaysia need to be improved: lack of sufficient medical staffs and public hospitals; long waiting time; less sophisticated medical technologies (but certainly not less reliable or efficient) etc, but over half a century post colonised era, we are doing absolutely well and should keep it going.