A Strange Thing Happened on the Way to the Market: Privatization in Malaysia and its Effects on the Health-Care System

Abstract

Privatization as a general policy was introduced into Malaysia in the 1980s. Subsequently, selected elements of the public health-care system were privatized. This chapter analyzes the effects of privatization on the health-care system in terms of both intended and unintended consequences. The outflow of experienced specialist doctors from the public sector to the private sector and the emergence of a two-class system of health care in Malaysia have been major unintended consequences of privatization.

Citation

Phua, K.-L. and Barraclough, S. (2011), "A Strange Thing Happened on the Way to the Market: Privatization in Malaysia and its Effects on the Health-Care System", Jacobs Kronenfeld, J. (Ed.) Access to Care and Factors that Impact Access, Patients as Partners in Care and Changing Roles of Health Providers (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 29), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 229-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0275-4959(2011)0000029012